Peter "Bobricius" Misenko Goes Clamshell for the New Armachat FLIP and PICOmputer FLIP

Maker Peter "Bobricius" Misenko has unveiled two new variants of his Armachat mesh messenger and PICOmputer pocket Sinclair ZX Spectrum emulator — now both available in a new clamshell form factor, still built out of structural PCBs.

Misenko has been working on the Armachat for a while now, having unveiled the original version six years ago. Since then, the project has gone through a range of redesigns to deliver the more compact Armachat NANO and the Armachat Touch, as well as inspiring the spin-off PICOmputer project — the latter using the same overall design to deliver a microcontroller-powered educational computing platform that quickly pivoted into an ideal device for playing classic Sinclair ZX Spectrum games on-the-go.

The new Armachat FLIP is based on the same central hardware as its predecessors — an Espressif ESP32-S3 microcontroller, chosen for compatibility with the community-driven Meshtastic LoRa-based mesh networking project, with a 2.8" color 320×240 display, 36-button compact keyboard, and a HopeRF RFM95 LoRa transceiver module. Rather than being an all-in-one design, though, the new version adopts a clamshell layout — hinging the screen in a separate section located above the keyboard, which can be angled for comfort while typing messages.

The PICOmputer FLIP, unsurprisingly given its name, adopts the same clamshell layout — but inside the structural PCB housing is a Raspberry Pi Pico microcontroller module, used to run a ZX Spectrum emulator for gaming on-the-go. Both machines include an integrated 1Ah battery with USB Type-C charging, but only the Armachat includes a radio for wireless communication.

Details on the new devices are available on the Armachat FLIP and PICOmputer FLIP Tindie store pages, where both are listed at $199 each; at the time of writing only the Armachat FLIP was showing as in-stock.