Raspberry Pi showcase AI camera kit, new screen and long awaited M.2 HAT at Embedded World conference
Embedded World 2024 kicked off yesterday and Raspberry Pi were quick off the blocks to showcase two new products, and to display a Raspberry Pi 5 product that was announced during its launch in late 2023.
We've reached out to Raspberry Pi for official confirmation and this article will be updated once we have the information.
Raspberry Pi AI Camera
In a video from Tam Hanna we see the Raspberry Pi AI Camera kit, which is essentially a Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W with a 12MP Sony IMX500 sensor based camera that has 76 degree field of view. This camera is very different from the recent Camera Module v3, which uses a Sony IMX708 sensor and introduced auto-focus.
The AI camera kit is a sneak preview for Embedded World 2024 attendees, and it's the first technical output from Raspberry Pi's collaboration with Sony since its investment in 2023.
The Sony IMX500 sensor has onboard processing for a variety of neural network models, and that takes the hard work off the 1 GHz quad-core Arm Cortex A53 CPU found in the Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W.
The AI camera is designed for AI based computer vision projects, and in Hanna's video we can see it's being used to track people in a demo. From the video we can see that the kit is able to track people at 30 fps — an impressive feat considering its size.
The kit comes with 200mm of flat flex cables, which are compatible with all models of Raspberry Pi. This means that there is either an adapter or alternative cables in the kit, as the Raspberry Pi 5 adopted the same flat flex pinout as the Raspberry Pi Zero range of boards.
Pricing and release date is unknown at this time.
New Raspberry Pi Monitor
This is the second official Raspberry Pi monitor, with the first being the official 7-inch Raspberry Pi display (released way back in 2015).
This new 15.6 inch display does not connect via the DSI / Display connector, but instead connects via HDMI. With a 1080p resolution at 60 Hz (some sites and social media sources are correcting earlier reports of a 30 Hz display, which was incorrectly listed on the product brief at the booth), built-in speakers, and a 3.5mm headphone jack, this screen won't be something that you game on. Rather, this screen is made for your maker projects — when you need a quick screen setup for a project, a second screen for debugging, or you just want to watch a movie while you work.
According to Bret.dk, it's not a touchscreen but is "just a standard monitor in this case".
Power is provided via USB-C (5V at 1A), making it possible to power the display from a USB port on your Raspberry Pi 4 or 5. Interestingly, the monitor comes with three different ways to use it. First, there's a kickstand for table-top use. Second, there's a traditional VESA standard mount for mounting it to a monitor arm. Finally, there's a wall hanger option — we're not sure if this is a picture hook type of connection or something else; we'll know more once we get a review unit.
We have no official details on price, but word is that it could cost around $100. When will it be released? That's also unclear, but if it's being shown at Embedded World 2024, it can't be too far away.
Raspberry Pi M.2 HAT spotted in the wild
Back to Tam Hanna's video, we can see the Raspberry Pi 5's M.2 HAT in a display case. With its unveiling at Embedded World 2024 and a recent listing spotted on a European reseller website, it seems that the M.2 HAT is nearly here!
The official M.2 HAT connects on top of the Raspberry Pi 5, and uses the PCIe connection to provide fast storage for the latest flagship Raspberry Pi. We've been waiting a while for this product, which was first announced back in Oct. 2023 — since that announcement there have been a plethora of Pi community projects and third-party NVMe options.
The first NVMe HAT for the Raspberry Pi 5 was Pineberry's HAT Drives, which fit on top or below the Raspberry Pi 5. Next was Pimoroni's NVMe Base, which attaches to the underside of the Raspberry Pi 5 and accommodates NVMe 2230 to 2280 drives. Lastly, we took a look at Argon Forty's ONE V3 M.2 NVMe which provided great cooling and NVMe drive support.
Pricing for the M.2 HAT is unknown, but based on third-party products it should land for about $20 to $30. Release date seems like it will be very soon.
