La AI camera for the Raspberry Pi, previously unveiled at Embedded World 2024, is now available for purchase at a price of $70. Powered by a Sony IMX500 smart vision sensor, this camera offers various AI capabilities such as object detection and body segmentation. Unlike the more powerful Raspberry Pi AI Kit designed for the Raspberry Pi 5, the AI Camera is compatible with any Raspberry Pi board equipped with a MIPI CSI connector.
Under the hood, the camera uses a Raspberry Pi RP2040 to handle neural network management and firmwareThe RP2040 transfers firmware and neural models to the Sony sensor, which does the heavy lifting of image processing. The processed images are then transmitted to the Raspberry Pi via the CSI-2 camera bus.
In terms of software compatibility, The camera is compatible with the official Raspberry Pi camera frameworks, Picamera2 and rpicam-apps. Thanks to this, you can detect objects with great ease, for your future DIY projects. For those interested in exploring the camera's potential, the official documentation provides detailed instructions on how to get started.
In addition, Advanced users can delve deeper into Sony's AITRIOS developer site for technical information on the IMX500 sensor and tools such as the IMX500 Converter and IMX500 Package, which make it easy to run custom trained networks on the AI camera using frameworks such as TensorFlow or PyTorch.
When considering the choice between The AI Kit and AI Camera for Raspberry Pi 5 Owners, the AI kit offers more power but at the same price of $70. So, it is better to go for the kit if you have the latest revision of the SBC. However, if you have an older Raspberry Pi, then this AI camera is for you…
Technical specifications of the AI camera for the Raspberry PI
As for the technical specifications that we found for this device, it is worth highlighting:
- Sony IMX500 12MP Smart Vision Sensor
- Sensor modes:
- 4056×3040 px @ 10 FPS
- 2028×1520 px @ 30 FPS
- Sensor cell size 1.55 µm x 1.55 µm
- 78º field of view with manual focus adjustment
- It integrates a Raspberry Pi RP2040 chip to manage neural networks and firmware
- Built-in 16MB flash memory
- 20cm flexible flat cable
Official website of the AI camera