Unleash the Power of Embedded AI with the Coral Dev Board Micro

Table of Contents

Introduction

• Overview of the Coral Dev Board Micro
• Key Features

Hardware Specifications

• CPU and TPU
• Memory
• Camera and Microphone
• GPIO Header Pins
• Add-On Boards

Getting Started

• Pre-Loaded Application
• Advanced Examples
• Programming Frameworks
• Setup Guide and References

Real-World Applications

• Smart Homes
• Preventative Maintenance
• Other Applications

Pros and Cons

• Pros
• Cons

FAQ

• What is the Coral Dev Board Micro?
• What are the key features of the board?
• What programming frameworks are supported?
• What are some real-world applications of the board?
• Are there any add-on boards available for the board?
• How do I get started with the board?

Introduction

The Coral Dev Board Micro is a powerful development board from Google that is designed for embedded AI applications. Unlike other boards in a similar class of products, the Coral Dev Board Micro not only contains an NXP i.MX RT1176 dual-Core CPU with one Arm Cortex-A7 core and 1M Cortex-M4 core, but also the Coral Tensor Processing Unit (TPU). This TPU is an ML accelerator module that can handle 4 trillion operations per Second for quantized models. This means the board is much closer in performance to the larger Coral Dev Board than something with a more traditional architecture that relies only on the CPU to perform these operations.

Hardware Specifications

CPU and TPU

Beyond the CPU cores and TPU, the Coral Dev Board Micro also contains 128 megabytes of NAND flash memory for storing program or model data and 64 megabytes of SDRAM. Near the top is an onboard High Max HM01B0 324x324 pixel color camera sensor. There is also an additional two-lane MIPI CSI camera connector for connecting another module. There's an onboard PDM microphone element along with an additional three unused PDM lanes for use with other modules.

Memory

The board contains 128 megabytes of NAND flash memory for storing program or model data and 64 megabytes of SDRAM.

Camera and Microphone

Near the top is an onboard High Max HM01B0 324x324 pixel color camera sensor. There is also an additional two-lane MIPI CSI camera connector for connecting another module. There's an onboard PDM microphone element along with an additional three unused PDM lanes for use with other modules.

GPIO Header Pins

The board has 24 GPI header pins comparable to the Raspberry Pi Pico schedule 26, allowing for a plethora of sensors and other circuitry to be attached, facilitating the creation of a wide variety of prototypes.

Add-On Boards

Lastly, two high-density connectors enable the use of add-on boards to further expand the Coral Dev Board Micro's features. Currently, two add-on boards are available, which allow for far more connectivity and functionality than is otherwise possible on the dev board micro alone. The first is the wireless add-on board, which contains a Murano Wi-Fi and Bluetooth module with support for up to Wi-Fi 5 and Bluetooth 5.0. The second is the Power over Ethernet (Poe) board, which allows for the 10 or 100-megabit-per-second Ethernet modes while receiving up to 7 watts of peak system power thanks to its compatibility with IEEE 802.3 AF specification. This pair of add-on boards is a great way to quickly add either wired or wireless connectivity to whatever embedded AI applications.

Getting Started

When powering on the board for the first time, it begins to run a pre-loaded application, which turns the green LED in the center of the Coral Dev Board Micro on whenever a face is detected. Now let's take a look at a more advanced example. It's possible to load the multi-core model Cascade project taken from the Coral Micro repository and use it to experiment with running two models simultaneously. This allows one processor to look for faces, and if one is detected, You can post-detection on the other processor. Most examples are written for the FreeRTOS framework, which supports the creation of separate tasks and other operating system-specific features. Due to real-time OS's more complex nature, the Arduino programming framework can also be utilized for more quickly getting started or just to experiment. Google provides their own Coral board Package for the Arduino IDE, complete with Pin definitions, the toolchain, and several robust examples. One good example to try is the detect faces sketch, as it shows how to use the camera and a model to display detected faces in the serial monitor. Simply select the sketch, connect a board, and then hit upload to see it run.

To get started with a Coral Dev Board Micro, you can view the setup guide and references on the coral.ai Website. There you can find instructions for setting up pre-RTOS, Arduino IDE, and view several pre-trained models that you can drop into an application. Beyond this, you're always free to Collect your data sets and train a TensorFlow Lite model from the ground up for use in a catalyst number of real-world applications, including Smart Homes, preventative maintenance, and so much more.

Real-World Applications

The Coral Dev Board Micro has a wide range of real-world applications, including Smart Homes, preventative maintenance, and more. With its powerful CPU and TPU, it can handle complex AI tasks with ease, making it an ideal choice for developers looking to Create cutting-edge embedded AI applications.

Pros and Cons

Pros

• Powerful CPU and TPU for handling complex AI tasks
• Onboard camera and microphone for easy integration with AI models
• GPIO header pins for attaching a wide range of sensors and other circuitry
• Add-on boards for expanding connectivity and functionality
• Pre-loaded application for easy testing and experimentation

Cons

• Limited onboard memory compared to some other development boards
• Add-on boards are required for some types of connectivity

FAQ

What is the Coral Dev Board Micro?

The Coral Dev Board Micro is a powerful development board from Google that is designed for embedded AI applications.

What are the key features of the board?

The board features a powerful CPU and TPU, onboard camera and microphone, GPIO header pins, and add-on boards for expanding connectivity and functionality.

What programming frameworks are supported?

The board supports the FreeRTOS and Arduino programming frameworks.

What are some real-world applications of the board?

The board has a wide range of real-world applications, including Smart Homes, preventative maintenance, and more.

Are there any add-on boards available for the board?

Yes, there are currently two add-on boards available, which allow for far more connectivity and functionality than is otherwise possible on the dev board micro alone.

How do I get started with the board?

You can view the setup guide and references on the coral.AI Website to get started with the board.