SaraKIT is a carrier board for the Raspberry Pi CM4 system-on-module with BLDC motor controllers and a range of sensors for robotics, support for ChatGPT-based voice control through three microphones and a ZL38063 audio chip, and two MIPI CSI connectors for cameras.
The versatile board can be used for voice-controlled products, robots, home automation systems, and interfacing with smart home or office devices. The company also developed various demos such as a Smartphone-controlled LEGO RC car, a self-balancing LEGO robot, a pan-and-tilt camera, various AI demos using MediaPipe such as face tracking and object detection, as well as audio demos using ChatGPT, Alexa, and/or Google Home.
SaraKIT specifications:
- Support system-on-modules – Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 (CM4) with future CM5 compatibility.
- MCU – Microchip dsPIC33 16-bit microcontroller with 32 KB SRAM for motor control and LSM6DS3TR sensor
- Audio
- Microchip ZL38063 (previously MicroSemi) audio processor for microphone arrays.
- 3x Knowles SPH0655 MEMS microphones
- Sound localization for voice recognition up to 5 m away.
- High sensitivity with an SNR of -37 dB ±1 dB @ 94 dB SPL.
- Amplified stereo output – 2 x 6 W, 4Ω.
- Motor control
- 2x three-phase DRV8313 BLDC motor drivers supporting a maximum of 65V and 3A peak.
- 2x Encoder inputs (reprogrammable as GPIO).
- Camera – 2x MIPI CSI connectors
- Sensors
- Digital Accelerometer LIS3DH (3-Axis, 2g / 4g / 8g / 16g, 16-bit) with I2C/SPI interfaces connected to CM4 module.
- LSM6DS3TR 3D accelerometer, 3D gyroscope, and temperature sensor.
- USB – 1x USB host port
- Expansion – 11x GPIO pins for UART, I2C, PWM, etc…
- Power Supply – 12V/24VDC via 5.5/2.1mm power barrel jack
- Dimensions – 9 cm (slightly larger than a credit card)
The company (SaraAI) has released the schematics, PCB layout, and other hardware design files, as well as the code for project samples (motor control, OpenCV, MediaPipe, etc..) on GitHub, and the official website has more documentation to help users get started with the SaraKIT carrier board with more details about the hardware, software, and demo projects. You can also find some videos showcasing the board on their YouTube account.
SaraKIT has recently launched on Crowd Supply with a $5,000 funding goal that has already been surpassed. There’s a single $99 kit to choose from with a SaraKIT CM4 carrier board, a dual CSI camera flex cable (17cm), and a CSI camera connection adapter (Hub) with the LSM6DS3TR sensor. Shipping adds $8 to the US, and $18 to the rest of the world, and deliveries are expected to start at the end of February 2024.
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.
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