Raspberry Pi and Sony made an AI-powered camera module

Raspberry Pi and Sony have co-developed a Raspberry Pi AI Camera module that’s launching today for $70. It comes with onboard AI processing that can help Raspberry Pi users develop “edge AI solutions that process visual data” with ease, according to the tiny computer maker.

The new camera builds on Raspberry Pi’s plans to offer chips and add-ons for AI developers, having previously released several non-AI camera modules since its first 5-megapixel offering in 2013. “AI-based image processing is becoming an attractive tool for developers around the world,” Raspberry Pi CEO Eben Upton said in a press release. “We look forward to seeing what our community members are able to achieve using the power of the Raspberry Pi AI Camera.” 

The AI camera is compatible with all Raspberry Pi single-board computers, and pairs the company’s RP2040 microcontroller chip with Sony’s IMX500 image sensor — the latter of which handles AI processing. The combination eliminates the need for additional components like accelerators or a graphics processing unit (GPU), which are typically required for camera modules to handle large-scale visual data.

The 12.3 megapixel Raspberry Pi AI Camera can capture footage at either 10 frames per second in 4056 x 3040, or 40fps at 2028 x 1520. It also has a manually adjustable focus, a 76-degree field of view, and measures 25 x 24 x 11.9mm — making it almost identical in size to the Camera Module 3 that Raspberry Pi released last year.