Hand-Held Camera Cube Reference Design Enables AI at the Edge

MAXREFDES178# camera cube executes low latency AI vision and hearing inferences on a coin cell power budget with reduced cost and size.
July 21, 2021
2 min read

Maxim Integrated's MAXREFDES178# camera cube reference design serves Artificial intelligence (AI) applications that previously were limited to those with the resources and deep pockets. The camera cube puts AI Vision in space- and cost-constrained applications like battery-powered edge devices, giving ultra-low-power IoT solutions hearing and vision.  Highlighting the MAX78000 low-power microcontroller with neural network accelerator for audio and video, it also has the MAX32666 ultra-low power Bluetooth microcontroller and two MAX9867 audio CODECs. Provided in a compact form factor for AI applications such as facial identification and keyword recognition, the camera can also be used in low-power, cost-sensitive products like wearables.

he MAXREFDES178# camera cube enables time- and safety-critical applications to operate on even small batteries, using up to 1,000x less power for vision and hearing applications, compared to other embedded solutions. AI inferences running on the MAXREFDES178# show significant latency improvements, over 100x faster than on embedded microcontrollers. The 1.6in x 1.7in x 1.5in (41mm x 44mm x 39mm) solution is claimed to be up to 50% smaller than the next-smallest GPU-based processor, and doesn't require memories or complex power supplies.

To learn more about the MAXREFDES178# visit https://bit.ly/MAXREFDES178Product 
To learn more about the MAX78000 visit https://bit.ly/MAX78000Product
To learn more about the MAX32666 visit https://bit.ly/MAX32666Product 
To learn more about the MAX9867, visit https://bit.ly/MAX9867Product 

About the Author

Alix Paultre

Editor-at-Large, Electronic Design

An Army veteran, Alix Paultre was a signals intelligence soldier on the East/West German border in the early ‘80s, and eventually wound up helping launch and run a publication on consumer electronics for the US military stationed in Europe. Alix first began in this industry in 1998 at Electronic Products magazine, and since then has worked for a variety of publications in the embedded electronic engineering space. Alix currently lives in Wiesbaden, Germany.

Also check out his YouTube watch-collecting channel, Talking Timepieces

Sign up for Electronic Design Newsletters
Get the latest news and updates.

Voice Your Opinion!

To join the conversation, and become an exclusive member of Electronic Design, create an account today!