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A Clockwork Raspberry: AI Kit for Raspberry Pi Released
Raspberry Pi tinkerers can now start using the palm-sized computer boards to experiment with AI.
This week, the Raspberry Pi Foundation announced the availability of the new Raspberry Pi AI Kit for $70.
The kit "bundles the Raspberry Pi M.2 HAT+ with a Hailo AI acceleration module for use with Raspberry Pi 5," according to its description. "It provides an accessible, cost-effective, and power-efficient way to integrate high-performance AI."
That's thanks to features like:
- 13 tera-operations per second (TOPS) of inferencing performance
- Single-lane PCIe 3.0 connection running at 8Gbps
- Full integration with the Raspberry Pi image software subsystem
- Compatibility with first-party or third-party cameras
- Efficient scheduling of the accelerator hardware: run multiple neural networks on a single camera, or single/multiple neural networks with two cameras concurrently
"This is Raspberry Pi's first AI-enabled board and allows amateur creators and developers to add AI models to whatever they're already doing with Raspberry Pi -- from projects in home automation, security, robotics and beyond," a spokesperson told Virtualization & Cloud Review.
"Additionally, Hailo is unveiling a new virtual community forum featuring tutorials, FAQs and other resources to support innovation and collaboration among the growing community of Hailo developers and new Raspberry Pi users."
That forum requires registration.
One of the other resources is the Hailo Model Explorer, which Hailo described as a dynamic tool designed to help users explore the models on the GitHub-hosted Model Zoo and select the best NN models for their AI applications. The company also offers a Hailo AI Software Suite to enable the compilation of deep learning models and the implementation of AI applications in production environments.
"The partnership will empower both professional and enthusiast creators to elevate their projects and solutions in home automation, security, robotics and beyond, with advanced AI technological capabilities," Hailo said in a news release.
This pivot toward AI is a natural evolution for Raspberry Pi, the credit-card-sized, single-board hobbyist computer originally developed for educational purposes, prototyping and various DIY projects.
For example, way back in early 2020 there was guidance sprouting up such as "Getting Started with Artificial Intelligence Using the Raspberry Pi."
Other uses of Raspberry Pi have been explored by Virtualization & Cloud Review columnist Tom Fenton, who has written articles including:
About the Author
David Ramel is an editor and writer for Converge360.