– DIY Orion PDA: a modern, offline Personal Digital Assistant project with potential crowdfunding if there’s interest.
– Hardware and power: low-power STM32U SoC, 536×366 non-color LCD, integrated solar cell in the lid for extended battery life, microSD storage, USB-C for charging and data syncing.
– Input/output: QWERTY keyboard, microphone for voice notes, headphone jack.
– OS and connectivity: cannot run Android; lacks cellular connectivity by design, trading broad app ecosystem for security and offline use.
The abbreviation PDA may not be entirely unfamiliar today, but it is no longer commonly used. It stands for Personal Digital Assistant, meaning a mobile system with functions such as a calendar, notebook, and address book, but without cellular connectivity. PDAs have more or less been made obsolte by smartphones, so the Orion PDA is likely more of a project for enthusiats. However, there could be practical reasons to use a PDA like this. The lack of network connectivity out of the box could also be an advantage in terms of securty.
PDA History and Orion Project
The Orion PDA is a DIY project that could potentially be made available to a wider audience through crowdfunding if there is enough interest. It uses an LCD that does not support color output and has a fairly low resolution of 536 x 366 pixels. In return, it is said to require very little power and should remain easy to read in sunlight. A solar cell is integrated into the lid, which could significantly extend battery life even without charging. Pricing is not provided in the brief, which means readers must rely on other details to measure practicality.
Display and Power Notes
It uses an STM32U SoC, which should not consume too much power. Naturally, a complex operating system like Android is not feasible on this hardware. There is a headphone jack. A microphone can be used to record voice notes. Larger amounts of data can also be stored on a microSD card. The USB-C port can be used not only for charging and firmware updates but also for syncing data. Text should be relatively quick to enter thanks to the QWERTY keyboard.










