Hummingboard 8P Edge AI SBC combines NXP i.MX 8M Plus SoC with Hailo-8 AI accelerator

Hummingboard 8P Edge AI Pico-ITX SBC combines an NXP i.MX 8M Plus processor – itself with a 2.3 TOPS NPU – with the 26 TOPS Hailo-8 AI accelerator for edge AI applications such as smart cameras and automated optical inspection.

The compact board comes with up to 8GB RAM, up to 128GB eMMC flash, two gigabit Ethernet ports including one with PoE, WiFi 5, a MIPI camera interface, HDMI and micro HDMI ports, two USB 3.0 ports, and more.

Hummingboard 8P Edge AI specifications:

SoC – NXP i.MX 8M Plus quad-core Cortex-A53 @ up to 1.8 GHz with Arm Cortex-M7 @ up to 800 MHz, Vivante GC7000UL 3D GPU, Vivante GC520L 2D GPU, 2.3 TOPS NPU
System Memory – Up to 8GB LPDDR4
Storage – Up to 128GB eMMC flash, microSD card slot
AI accelerator – M.2 Hailo-8 module delivering up to 26 TOPS
Video Output – HDMI and Micro HDMI ports
Camera – MIPI-CSI camera connector for optional Basler dart daA3840-30mc (S-Mount) with 4K (8MP) resolution @ up to 30 fps
Audio – Digital audio (riser interface FPC connector) with onboard audio codec
Networking
- 2x Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 ports including one with PoE support
- 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac WiFi 5 and Bluetooth
- Optional 4G LTE/5G cellular connectivity via mPCIe and SIM card holder
USB – 2x USB 3.0 ports
Debugging – Micro USB connector for serial console
Misc – Reset button, configurable push button, 3x LED indicators, RTC
Power Supply
- 7V – 36V via DC jack
- PoE sink support 802.3af Class 0
- Max power consumption – 10 Watts
Dimensions – PCB: 100 x 70 mm (Pico-ITX form factor); extruded aluminum enclosure: 120 x 80 x 30 mm
Temperature Range – Commercial: 0°C to 70°C; industrial: -40°C to 85°C

SolidRun provides a Linux BSP (Debian with buildroot or Yocto) for the board provided on an SD card that ships with the board and also available on GitHub. The Hailo-8 module supports popular AI frameworks such as TensorFlow, TensorFlow Lite, Keras, PyTorch, and ONNX, and the company offers three AI demos that work out of the box: object detection, license plate recognition, and multistream detection. You’ll find more details in the getting started guide and you can check out an AI demo in the video embedded below.

Compared to cloud-based processing, this type of edge AI solution enables real-time processing, reduced latency, bandwidth savings, and improved privacy and security. The HummingBoard 8P Edge AI SBC is suitable for Smart Cameras, surveillance applications, industrial IoT, Smart Agriculture, and Smart Retail.

The Hummingboard 8P Edge AI SBC is available for purchase now for $590 on the SolidRun store as part of a kit with a WiFi/BT antenna, a microSD card, a USB cable, a heatsink, and a universal power adapter. While you can use a USB 3.0 camera and HDMI display with this kit, the company also provides a more complete kit with a Basler MIPI CSI camera and a 7-inch touchscreen display for $854. Additional information can be found on the product page and in the press release.

Thanks to TLS for the tip.

Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.