aaawave blog — maker hardware — 2026
Arduino UNO Q
Two brains. One board.
The most ambitious UNO yet — pairing a Qualcomm Dragonwing Linux processor with a real-time STM32 microcontroller. Arduino just reinvented itself.
What is it
Arduino just reinvented the UNO.
The Arduino UNO Q is the product of Arduino's partnership with Qualcomm — announced October 2025 — and it's unlike anything the Arduino ecosystem has seen before. At its heart is a "dual-brain" architecture: a full Linux computer and a real-time microcontroller on the same UNO-sized board, talking to each other over an RPC bridge.
The Linux side is powered by Qualcomm's Dragonwing QRB2210 — a quad-core Arm processor with an Adreno GPU and dedicated AI accelerator. The microcontroller side is an STMicro STM32U585 running Zephyr OS with the familiar Arduino core. You write sketches the way you always have, but now you also have a full Debian Linux machine on the same PCB.
"Put advanced AI and edge computing in the hands of everyone while keeping Arduino open, human-centred, and easy to use."
Architecture
Two processors. Two jobs. One board.
The genius of the UNO Q is that both processors have a clear role — and they're connected, not competing.
- Quad-core Arm Cortex-A53 @ 2.0 GHz
- Adreno GPU for AI acceleration
- Dual ISP — machine vision ready
- Full Debian Linux with upstream support
- Runs Python, Node.js, Docker, ML models
- Wi-Fi 5 dual-band + Bluetooth 5.1
- Arm Cortex-M33 @ 160 MHz
- 2 MB flash, 786 KB RAM
- Zephyr RTOS + Arduino core
- Runs Arduino sketches unchanged
- Deterministic real-time I/O control
- Full UNO shield compatibility
The two processors communicate via an RPC bridge (Arduino Bridge library), letting your Linux app trigger microcontroller actions and vice versa — low latency, tight integration.
Full specifications
Everything on one board.
Which version to buy
Two variants. Clear choice.
The UNO Q launched October 2025 with a 2 GB model, and the 4 GB variant followed in January 2026. Both run the same software — the difference is headroom.
If you plan to run the board in standalone SBC mode with a display, keyboard, and mouse — or load larger ML models — go with the 4 GB. For classic embedded sensor projects, 2 GB is plenty.
What you can build
From blinking LEDs to edge AI in one board.
The UNO Q isn't just a faster Arduino. It opens up an entirely new class of projects that were previously impossible at this price and form factor.
- Machine vision systems — connect a camera, run object detection or QR scanning locally with no cloud
- Voice-controlled devices — on-device wake word detection and command recognition via the Adreno AI accelerator
- Edge AI gateways — process sensor streams locally with a Python ML pipeline, then push summary data to cloud
- Robotics — Linux handles path planning and high-level logic; the STM32 handles motors and sensors in real time
- Home automation hubs — run Home Assistant or Node-RED directly on the board alongside Arduino sketches
- Classic Arduino projects — existing UNO shields, sketches, and libraries work exactly as before
Development experience
Arduino App Lab changes everything.
The UNO Q ships with Arduino App Lab — a new development environment that runs directly on the board or from a connected PC. It brings together Arduino sketches, Linux applications, and AI model deployment in one interface.
Key features include a visual bridge between the Linux MPU and Arduino MCU, one-click AI model deployment to the Qualcomm AI engine, a real-time dashboard for monitoring system health and pin status, and OTA update support for both firmware and Linux packages. The classic Arduino IDE 2.0+ still works for MCU-only programming.
Get the Arduino UNO Q at aaawave
2GB and 4GB variants in stock — free US shipping — authorized dealer
