Introducing the AIY Vision Kit: Add computer vision to your maker projects

NOV 30, 2017

Posted by Billy Rutledge, Director, AIY Projects

Since we released AIY Voice Kit, we've been inspired by the thousands of amazing builds coming in from the maker community. Today, the AIY Team is excited to announce our next project: the AIY Vision Kit — an affordable, hackable, intelligent camera.

Much like the Voice Kit, our Vision Kit is easy to assemble and connects to a Raspberry Pi computer. Based on user feedback, this new kit is designed to work with the smaller Raspberry Pi Zero W computer and runs its vision algorithms on-device so there's no cloud connection required.

Build intelligent devices that can perceive, not just see

The kit materials list includes a VisionBonnet, a cardboard outer shell, an RGB arcade-style button, a piezo speaker, a macro/wide lens kit, flex cables, standoffs, a tripod mounting nut and connecting components.

The VisionBonnet is an accessory board for Raspberry Pi Zero W that features the Intel® Movidius™ MA2450, a low-power vision processing unit capable of running neural networks. This will give makers visual perception instead of image sensing. It can run at speeds of up to 30 frames per second, providing near real-time performance.

Bundled with the software image are three neural network models:

A model based on MobileNets that can recognize a thousand common objects.
A model for face detection capable of not only detecting faces in the image, but also scoring facial expressions on a "joy scale" that ranges from "sad" to "laughing."
A model for the important task of discerning between cats, dogs and people.

For those of you who have your own models in mind, we've included the original TensorFlow code and a compiler. Take a new model you have (or train) and run it on the the Intel® Movidius™ MA2450.

Extend the kit to solve your real-world problems

The AIY Vision Kit is completely hackable:

Want to prototype your own product? The Vision Kit and the Raspberry Pi Zero W can fit into any number of tiny enclosures.
Want to change the way the camera reacts? Use the Python API to write new software to customize the RGB button colors, piezo element sounds and GPIO pins.
Want to add more lights, buttons, or servos? Use the 4 GPIO expansion pins to connect your own hardware.

We hope you'll use it to solve interesting challenges, such as:

Build "hotdog/not hotdog" (or any other food recognizer)
Turn music on when someone walks through the door
Send a text when your car leaves the driveway
Open the dog door when she wants to get back in the house

Ready to get your hands on one?

AIY Vision Kits will be available in December, with online pre-sales at Micro Center starting today.

*** Please note that AIY Vision Kit requires Raspberry Pi Zero W, Raspberry Pi Camera V2 and a micro SD card, which must be purchased separately.

Tell us what you think!

We're listening — let us know how we can improve our kits and share what you're making using the #AIYProjects hashtag on social media. We hope AIY Vision Kit inspires you to build all kinds of creative devices.