Toradex Collaborates with Amazon Web Services and NXP to Release Apalis AI Vision Starter Kit for the i.MX 8 Applications Processor

By Tiera Oliver

Associate Editor

Embedded Computing Design

March 10, 2020

News

Toradex collaborates with partners Amazon Web Services and NXP to create Apalis AI Vision Starter Kit, for developing cloud-connected Computer Vision and Machine Learning applications.

Toradex worked in collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and NXP Semiconductors to create the AI Embedded Vision Starter Kit for developing cloud-connected computer vision and machine learning (ML) designs.

The kit functions as a reference implementation and was built using cloud, industrial-grade edge software, and hardware. It simplifies the creation of products in industries such as industrial automation, agriculture, medical equipment, and more.
 
The AI Vision Starter Kit includes:

• Toradex Apalis System on Module (SoM) featuring NXP's i.MX 8QuadMax applications processor
• Toradex Ixora Carrier Board
• Allied Vision Alvium 1500 industrial-grade MIPI CSI-2 camera
• All required cables and a power supply to get started
• Full software stack, including source code for running the device as well as for cloud deployment
• Extensive documentation
• 50 USD AWS credit

On the device side, the kit comes with Torizon, an industrial Linux platform offered by Toradex.  AWS IoT Greengrass is used to manage secure communications with the cloud as well as deliver offline capabilities. A local UI via HDMI is provided utilizing Web technologies. The cloud stack is deployed directly from the device in just a few steps via AWS CloudFormation as a dedicated AWS instance. AWS enabled the NXP i.MX 8 applications processor as a target for Amazon SageMaker Neo. Amazon SageMaker Neo allows developers to optimize a ML model for a certain device. Lastly, a trained and optimized model is included in the kit as well.
 
The source code for the software is available on Github and supported by extensive documentation in the Toradex Developer Center, making it easy to modify the implementation for your own needs.

For more information, visit: https://www.toradex.com/imx8-embedded-vision-starter-kit

Tiera Oliver, Associate Editor for Embedded Computing Design, is responsible for web content edits, product news, and constructing stories. She also assists with newsletter updates as well as contributing and editing content for ECD podcasts and the ECD YouTube channel. Before working at ECD, Tiera graduated from Northern Arizona University where she received her B.S. in journalism and political science and worked as a news reporter for the university’s student led newspaper, The Lumberjack.

More from Tiera