News
New Edge AI Developer Kit for Smart Vision Apps
- By John K. Waters
- 09/23/2020
Silicon Valley-based artificial intelligence (AI) startup Aotu.ai and global industrial and embedded hardware maker AAEON have announced the joint release of a new embedded computing development kit for AI-based smart vision applications.
The new BrainFrame Edge AI DevKit combines Aotu's BrainFrame Smart Vision platform with AAEON's fanless industrial computer, powered by 8th-gen Intel Core i5 processors and Intel Movidius Myriad XVPU.
Aotu is focused on "innovation in the AI domain," the company says, and it's leveraging expertise in computer vision, deep neural network (DNN) algorithms, and software engineering to do it. Its BrainFrame is an intelligent video analytics platform designed to be easy to scale, highly configurable, and deployable on-premise or to the cloud. BrainFrame supports modular algorithmic configuration through a large library of "VisionCapsules," Aotu's open-source algorithm packaging format. These self-contained capsules have a negligible memory footprint, the company says, and include all necessary code, files, and metadata to describe and implement a machine learning algorithm.
The VisionCapsules enable drag-and-drop Smart Vision AI algorithms and provide support for the Intel Distribution of OpenVINO toolkit. The deep integration of the OpenVINO toolkit leverages the optimization and acceleration offered by the toolkit on Intel's processors.
"We built BrainFrame when we saw how fragmented the Smart Vision AI ecosystem is and how complex it was to create and deploy a system," Aotu's founder and CEO, Stephen Li, said in a statement. "We realized there is an opportunity for a platform that can become the 'Android OS' of video cameras, where you can download algorithms as easily as downloading Android applications."
AAEON, which was founded in 1993, is one of the leading designers and manufacturers of industrial and embedded computing platforms. The company produces integrated Industry 4.0 solutions, cutting-edge AI hardware, and IoT solution platforms that "seamlessly consolidate virtual and physical networks," the company says.
"With Intel's 8th Generation Core processors and Myriad X VPU, the DevKit provides outstanding performance and value for developers needing the computational power for their applications," said Jason Lu, product manager with AAEON North America. "Paired with Aotu's BrainFrame, it provides for immense expandability and support for AI applications, while removing unnecessary complexities during the development process."
The BrainFrame platform recently received the Nvidia Metropolis Certification, which means it can now be found through the NVIDIA Metropolis Portal.
About the Author
John K. Waters is the editor in chief of a number of Converge360.com sites, with a focus on high-end development, AI and future tech. He's been writing about cutting-edge technologies and culture of Silicon Valley for more than two decades, and he's written more than a dozen books. He also co-scripted the documentary film Silicon Valley: A 100 Year Renaissance, which aired on PBS. He can be reached at jwaters@converge360.com.