VIA’s “Pixetto” is a 130° FoV HD camera board for teaching AI to students and makers. The board runs Linux on a Cortex-A7 with WiFi, HDMI, micro-USB, microSD, and a Grove interface for links to Arduino, micro:bit, and Raspberry Pi boards.

VIA Technologies recently launched an $85 HD vision sensor board aimed at teaching AI and machine vision basics to students 12 years or older. The VIA Pixetto board includes a Grove connector for connecting to Arduino, micro:bit, and the Raspberry Pi boards, presumably via adapter boards such as Seeed’s Grove Base Kit for Raspberry Pi.

VIA Pixetto and kit
(click images to enlarge)

The VIA Pixetto integrates a VIA Pixetto Lab software suite with pre-built object, shape, color, face, and handwriting recognition models, as well as coding Blocks integrated with Scratch. Available in English and Traditional Chinese, the software enables more experienced students and makers with support for Python and TensorFlow Lite.

The 38 x 38mm board runs Linux on an unnamed 900MHz, Cortex-A7 processor and ships with 64MB DDR, 128MB SPI flash, and a microSD slot. The camera uses a 2-megapixel GalaxyCore GC2053 CMOS sensor from Shanhai-based GalaxyCore (translated). The camera offers 1920 x 1080 resolution and a 130° field of view.

VIA Pixetto detail view
(click image to enlarge)

The VIA Pixetto provides WiFi with antenna, as well as a 4K-ready HDMI 2.0 port and a microphone. A micro-USB 2.0 OTG port provides 5V/500mA input, and the Grove connector can also be used for 5V/300mA power. The board offers 3x LEDs, a reset button, and a 0 to 45°C operating range.

VIA Pixetto installation video

 
Further information

The VIA Pixetto is available for $85 plus shipping at VIA Store. More information may be found in the VIA Technologies announcement and product page.