It’s now much easier to AI features to your project thanks to better tools, but as we’ve experienced when trying out Edge Impulse machine learning platform on the XIAO BLE Sense board, it still requires some effort and the learning curve may be higher than some expect. But for common tasks like face detection, there’s no reason for the solution to be hard-to-use or expensive, and Pete Warden (Useful Sensors) has designed the $10 Person Sensor fitted with a camera module pre-programmed with algorithms that detect nearby faces and reports the results over an I2C interface. Person Sensor specifications: ASIC – Himax HX6537-A ultra-low-power AI accelerator @ 400 MHz with 2MB SRAM, 2MB flash Camera Image Sensor – 110 degrees FOV Image scan rate – 7Hz with no facial recognition Image scan rate – 5Hz with facial recognition active Host interface Qwiic connector for the I2C interface up to […]
Innodisk releases USB camera modules for AI applications
Innodisk, better known for its industrial storage solutions and embedded peripherals, has recently announced a shift towards the AI industry, and the first products for this market are three USB 2.0 camera modules with 1920×1080 resolution. All three camera modules are fixed focus. Innodisk EV2U-RMR2 offers HDR support, the EV2U-SGR1 is more compact, offers wider angles, and is optimized for low light conditions, while the EV2U-RMR1 supports HDR in a longer, but much thinner and narrower form factor and is equipped with an M5 lens, instead of an M12 lens for the other models. Innodisk EV2U-RMR2 camera module specifications: Resolution – 1920×1080 @ 30fps Sensor Size – 1/4” Pixel Size – 2 um Lens type – Fixed focus (M12) Lens D/H/V FoV – 86°/72°/38° HDR support Output I/F – USB 2.0 Power consumption – Around 1 Watt Dimensions – 58 x 25 x 22 mm Temperature Range – -20°C ~ […]
Reolink TrackMix PoE review – A smart 4K PTZ security camera with two lenses, auto-tracking
Reolink has launched another 4K PTZ smart security with human and vehicle detection, plus pet detection (Beta). The Reolink TrackMix PoE comes with two lenses, one with a wide-angle, and the other telephoto lens to zoom on a specific zone, and supports auto-tracking. I’ve had the camera for a few months so I’ll report on my experience with the device. Reolink TrackMix PoE specifications Storage – MicroSD card slot Camera Image sensors – 1/3″ CMOS sensor + 1/2.8″ CMOS Sensor Video Resolution – Up to: 3840 x 2160 (8.0 megapixels) at 25 frames/sec Lenses – f=2.8mm@F=1.6 and f=8mm@F=1.6 Video Format – H.264, H.265 Field of View – Horizontal: 104°-38°; vertical: 60°-21° Zoom Mode – 6x hybrid zoom Day & Night – IR-cut filter with auto-switching Infrared Night Vision – Up to 15 via 2x 850nm LEDs Color Night Vision – 2x spolights at 6500K/450 lumens Pan &Tilt Range – Pan: […]
Allwinner V851S/V851SE low-cost camera SoC embeds 64MB DDR2, a 0.5 TOPS NPU
Allwinner V851S/V851SE is a single-core Arm Cortex-A7 SoC with a RISC-V core, an H.265/H.264 video encoder, and a 0.5 TOPS NPU designed for Smart IP cameras with support for features such as human detection and crossing alarms. Both processors ship with 64MB DDR2 memory, and feature USB, Ethernet, and SDIO interfaces, but the V851S is designed for systems with a display, while the V851SE targets traditional headless IP cameras. Both processors are pretty similar, but here are the key differences between Allwinner V851S: Networking – 10/100 Mbps Ethernet port with RMII interface GPIO – 6x ports (PA, PC, PD, PE, PF, PH) Display LCD Parallel RGB, Serial RGB, i8080, BT656 2-lane MIPI DSI SPI – 4x SPI and Allwinner V851SE: Networking – SIP 100 Mbps EPHY GPIO – 5x ports (PA, PC, PE, PF, PH) Display – Not supported SPI – 3x SPI That means the Allwinner V851S requires an […]
Renesas RZ/V2MA microprocessor embeds AI & OpenCV accelerators for image processing
Renesas has launched the RZ/V2MA dual-core Arm Cortex-A53 microprocessor with a low-power (1TOPS/W) DRP-AI accelerator and one OpenCV accelerator for rule-based image processing enabling vision AI applications. The MPU also supports H.265 and H.264 video decoding and encoding, offers LPDDR4 memory and eMMC flash interfaces, as well as Gigabit Ethernet, a USB 3.1 interface, PCIe Gen 2, and more. The RZ/V2MA microprocessor targets applications ranging from AI-equipped gateways to video servers, security gates, POS terminals, and robotic arms. Renesas RZ/V2MA specifications: CPU – 2x Arm Cortex-A53 up to 1.0GHz Memory – 32-bit LPDDR4-3200 Storage – 1x eMMC 4.5.1 flash interface Vision and Artificial Intelligence accelerator DRP-AI at 1.0 TOPS/W class OpenCV Accelerator (DRP) Video H.265/H.264 Multi Codec Encoding: h.265 up to 2160p, h.264 up to 1080p Decoding: h.265 up to 2160p, h.264 up to 1080p Networking – 1x Gigabit Ethernet USB – 1x USB 3.1 Gen1 host/peripheral up to 5 […]
LiLyGo T-SIMCAM ESP32-S3 camera development board supports optional 4G LTE connectivity
ESP32-S3 has been in the news recently and we just wrote about the Bee S3 and BPI-PicoW-S3 boards yesterday, but there’s more, and LilyGo T-SIMCAM ESP32-S3 is another interesting ESP32-S3 board with a 2MP camera as well as support for an optional 4G LTE module. The board can make use of the AI capabilities from the ESP32-S3 microcontroller through the built-in camera and microphone and offers two options for power with 5V through a USB Type-C port, as well as a 2-pin JST connector for connecting a battery. T-SIMCAM ESP32-S3 CAM board specifications: Wireless MCU – ESP32-S3R8 dual-core Xtensa LX7 microcontroller with WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 5.0 LE and Mesh connectivity with 8MB PSRAM Storage – 16MB QSPI flash, MicroSD card socket Camera – 2MP OV2640 camera with 1622×1200 resolution Audio – I2S digital microphone Connectivity – Optional NB-IoT, 2G GSM, or 3G/4G LTE module via mPCIe socket and SIM […]
M5Stack Thermal Camera 2 Unit combines ESP32 WiSoC with MLX90640 thermal camera
We’ve already seen the ESP32 used with a thermal camera (Flir Lepton 3.5) in the tCam-Mini IR board, but M5Stack Thermal Camera 2 Unit offers a more affordable ESP32 thermal camera solution thanks to the MLX90640 IR array thermal camera with a 32×24 resolution. Based on the ESP32-PICO-D4 system-in-package (SiP) with a dual-core microcontroller offering WiFi and Bluetooth connectivity, the camera module offers a field of view of 110°x75°, and a temperature measurement range of -40°C to 300°C. M5Stack Thermal Camera 2 Unit specifications: SiP – ESP32-PICO-D4 system-in-package with ESP32 dual-core Tensilica LX6 cores, 448 KB ROM, 520 KB SRAM, 4MB SPI flash, 2.4 GHz WiFi 4 and Bluetooth 4.2 IR camera – Melexis MLX90640 Infrared (IR) sensor with 32×24 pixels IR array, range: -40°C to 300°C with +/-1.5°C resolution, FoV: 110°x75° (See datasheet) Expansion – Grove I2C HY2.0-4P interface (“Port A”) Misc – Reset button, passive buzzer, user RGB […]
Miniature dual camera Full HD or 4K encoder boards support RGB and thermal cameras
Z3 Technology has introduced several miniature dual-camera encoder boards with the PoE-capable FV2K-13A and FV4K-13A boards capable of handling two visible and/or thermal cameras at Full HD or 4K resolution respectively, along with the FV2K-15A and FV4K-15A variants equipped with low-profile connectors. All four models enable H.265/H.264 video streaming of a single or dual camera system, support ONVIF Profile S and T profile, and comply with the NDAA law in the US. This set of features as well as low power consumption and the lightweight designs make the boards suitable for UAV, inspection, surveillance, and other weight-constrained applications. Z3 Technology FV2K-13A and FV4K-13A dual-camera encoder boards specifications: SoC – Ambarella CV22 quad-core Cortex-A53 processor with 4Kp60 encoder (see PDF product brief) Storage – MicroSD, USB, or NFS Camera interfaces FV2K-13A Visible Camera Formats – Sony FCB-EV7520(A) and FCB-EV9500L HD and SD IR Formats – RS170, NTSC/PAL, and LVDS FV4K-13A Visible […]