Photo: Raspberry
Raspberry Pi—the creators behind the world's most famous minicomputer—is taking a stab at creating hardware that uses artificial intelligence. Their attempt is a camera module that offers built-in AI processing.
Raspberry Pi collaborated with Sony Semiconductor Solutions Corporation to create the US$70 (around CA$94) Raspberry Pi AI camera module. It's built to help users develop "advanced AI solutions that process visual data" with ease. It combines the company’s RP2040 microcontroller chip with Sony's IMX500 intelligent vision sensor that processes images with AI on the chip.
That means it doesn't need high-end GPUs or accelerators. It works with Raspberry Pi's single-board computers, making it an affordable option for those looking to create AI tools that rely on images. It also means users can take advantage of the Raspberry Pi ecosystem and the hardware and software they're familiar with. For example, AI Camera can work with libraries like lib-camera and Picamera2.
The AI Camera has about 12.3 megapixels and can film 10 frames per second in 4056 x 3040 or 40fps at 2028 x 1520. It also has a manually adjustable focus and a 76-degree field of view. The AI Camera measures 25 x 24 x 11.9mm, almost the same size as the Camera Module 3 that Raspberry Pi released last year.