Raspberry Pi, the well-known company that produces affordable single-board computers, is launching a new add-on device that could significantly broaden its applications—and, fitting with the times, it includes an AI feature. This new addition, named the Raspberry Pi AI Camera, is an image sensor with built-in AI processing capabilities and will be available at a price of $70.
To dive deeper into the technical aspects, the AI Camera is equipped with a Sony image sensor, the IMX500, which is paired with Raspberry Pi’s proprietary RP2040 microcontroller chip featuring on-chip SRAM. In line with Raspberry Pi’s core principles, the RP2040 maintains a balance of cost-effectiveness and efficiency.
It’s worth noting that the RP2040 chip isn’t designed to replace the more powerful Nvidia GPUs commonly used in AI inference tasks. However, when coupled with an image sensor, this module serves as an extension capable of capturing visuals and running them through standard neural network models for processing.
One significant advantage of this module is its onboard processing capability. This means that image analysis is handled directly by the camera module, allowing the host Raspberry Pi to continue its operations uninterrupted, without the need for an external accelerator. Moreover, this AI Camera is fully compatible with all existing Raspberry Pi computers.
The AI Camera is not Raspberry Pi’s first foray into camera technology. The company continues to offer the Raspberry Pi Camera Module 3, a straightforward 12-megapixel image sensor (Sony IMX708) mounted on a compact add-on board, which can be connected to any Raspberry Pi via a ribbon cable. Adhering to Raspberry Pi’s commitment to long-term availability, the Camera Module 3 will still be offered at around $25 for years to come.
While the new AI Camera shares similar dimensions with the Camera Module 3 at 25mm x 24mm, it is slightly thicker due to the optical sensor’s structure. This AI module comes pre-installed with the MobileNet-SSD model, an object detection algorithm capable of real-time image processing.
You may wonder who would make the best use of the Raspberry Pi AI Camera. Although Raspberry Pi initially catered to tech enthusiasts and home projects, it now serves a larger market, with the majority of its products being sold to businesses that integrate Raspberry Pi into their own products or use them for industrial processes.
When Raspberry Pi became a public entity, it was revealed that 72% of its sales were attributed to the industrial and embedded sector. This proportion is expected to be even greater for the AI Camera, given its specialized features.
The AI Camera could be highly beneficial in various scenarios, such as smart city applications where it might be used to monitor traffic patterns or detect available parking spots. In industrial settings, it could serve for basic automated quality control, inspecting items as they move beneath the camera.
The appeal of Raspberry Pi products, especially for businesses, lies in their ability to manufacture computers and modules at a large scale. Although they experienced supply chain challenges following the COVID-19 pandemic, these issues appear to have been resolved. Companies are confident in Raspberry Pi’s ability to deliver products without disrupting production schedules. This reliability is further supported by Raspberry Pi’s promise to maintain production of the AI Camera until at least January 2028, ensuring its availability for the foreseeable future.
