Raspberry Pi launches digital camera module for vision-based thoroughly AI applications | TechCrunch

Raspberry Pi, the corporate that sells small, low-price, single-board laptop programs, is releasing an add-on that is going to open up numerous use instances — and yes, on tale of it’s 2024, there’s an AI perspective. Known as the Raspberry Pi AI Camera, this image sensor comes with on-board AI processing and is going to value $70.

In extra technical terms, the AI Camera is according to a Sony image sensor (the IMX500) paired with a RP2040, Raspberry Pi’s have microcontroller chip with on-chip SRAM. Admire the remainder of the road-up, the RP2040 follows Raspberry Pi’s overall philosophy — it is a ways affordable but atmosphere pleasant.

In numerous phrases, AI startups aren’t going to change their Nvidia GPUs with RP2040 chips for inference. But whenever you pair it with an image sensor, you salvage an extension module that can capture photos and job those photos thru normal neural community devices.

As an added assist, on-board processing on the digital camera module ability that the host Raspberry Pi isn’t struggling from visible files processing. The Raspberry Pi stays free to originate different operations — you don’t need to add a separate accelerator. The brand new module is fancy minded with all Raspberry Pi laptop programs.

This isn’t Raspberry Pi’s first digital camera module. The corporate aloof sells the Raspberry Pi Camera Module 3, a easy 12-megapixel image sensor from Sony (IMX708) mounted on a minute add-on board that it is probably you’ll presumably presumably well presumably pair with a Raspberry Pi with a ribbon cable. As Raspberry Pi guarantees to again manufacturing running for a pair of years, the Camera Module 3 will stay accessible for around $25.

The AI Camera is the identical dimension because the Camera Module 3 (25mm x 24mm) but somewhat of thicker on account of the construction of the optical sensor. It comes pre-loaded with the MobileNet-SSD model, an object detection model that can bustle in realtime.

At this level, it is probably you’ll presumably presumably be wondering who is going to use the Raspberry Pi AI Camera. Whereas the small laptop programs were before all the pieces designed for tech hobbyists and homelab projects, Raspberry Pi now sells most of its devices to firms that use Raspberry Pi devices of their have merchandise or as phase their assembly lines for interior industrial use instances.

When Raspberry Pi was a public company, it reported that the industrial and embedded segment represented 72% of its gross sales. That ratio is probably going to be even increased for the AI Camera.

I could per chance presumably presumably well imagine firms the use of the AI Camera module for natty city sensors that detect empty parking spots, divulge, or discover traffic flows. In an industrial atmosphere, the hardware might per chance presumably presumably well be historical for basic, automated quality assurance with objects passing under the digital camera module.

The cause firms fancy the use of Raspberry Pi is on tale of they’ll make laptop programs and modules at scale — they faced some submit-Covid offer constraints but those look like resolved. Companies know they’ll reliability offer Raspberry Pi merchandise without struggling delays in a producing pipeline. That’s also phase of the cause Raspberry Pi guarantees that the AI Camera will stay in manufacturing till no no longer as much as January 2028.