Adafruit
TensorFlow Lite for Microcontrollers Kit
Machine learning has come to the 'edge' - small microcontrollers that can run a very miniature version of TensorFlow Lite to do ML computations. But you...
Machine learning has come to the 'edge' - small microcontrollers that can run a very miniature version of TensorFlow Lite to do ML computations.
But you don't need super complex hardware to start developing your own TensorFlow models! We've curated a simple kit to dip your toes into machine learning waters.
Kit includes:
- Adafruit PyBadge with SAMD51 Cortex M4F processor @ 120MHz, with display, speaker and buttons
- Electret Microphone Amplifier - MAX4466 with Adjustable Gain
- JST PH 3-Pin to Female Socket Cable - 200mm
- Lithium Ion Polymer Battery with Short Cable - 3.7V 350mAh
The kit uses our PyBadge as your edge processor. It's a compact board - it's credit card sized. It's powered by our favorite chip, the ATSAMD51, with 512KB of flash and 192KB of RAM. We add 2 MB of QSPI flash for file storage, handy for TensorFlow Lite files, images, fonts, sounds, or other assets.
You can plug in a microphone into the ports at the bottom, to add microphone input for micro speech recognition. Our Arduino library has some demos you can get started with to recognize various word pairs like "yes/no", "up/down" and "cat/dog". TensorFlow Lite for microcontrollers is very cutting-edge so expect to see a lot of development happening in this area, with lots of code and process changes.
Some light soldering is required to attach the microphone headers onto the board.
Here's a list of everything you get with the PyBadge, you can read a lot more about it on the product page
- ATSAMD51J19 @ 120MHz with 3.3V logic/power - 512KB of FLASH + 192KB of RAM
- 2 MB of SPI Flash for storing images, sounds, animations, whatever!
- 1.8" 160x128 Color TFT Display connected to its own SPI port
- 8 x Game/Control Buttons with nice silicone button tops (these feel great)
- 5 x NeoPixels for badge dazzle, or game score-keeping
- Triple-axis accelerometer (motion sensor)
- Light sensor, reverse-mount so that it points out the front
- Built in buzzer mini-speaker
- Mono Class-D speaker driver for 4-8 ohm speakers, up to 2 Watts
- LiPoly battery port with built in recharging capability
- USB port for battery charging, programming and debugging
- Two female header strips with Feather-compatible pinout so you can plug any FeatherWings in
- JST ports for NeoPixels, sensor input, and I2C (you can fit I2C Grove connectors in here)
- Reset button
- On-Off switch
Jargon buster
Plain-language definitions for the technical terms used above.
- Feather-compatible
- Feather-compatible means the board follows the Adafruit Feather size and pin layout used by many add-on boards and enclosures. It matters because it helps you choose accessories that will physically fit and connect to the same pins.
- Grove
- Grove is a plug-in connector ecosystem for sensors and modules that avoids soldering and jumper wires. Grove compatibility matters because it can make it quicker to add supported I2C devices, as long as the cable and voltage are suitable.
- Headers
- Rows of metal pins used to plug a module into a breadboard or connect it with jumper wires. Pre-soldered headers make the module easier to use straight away without needing to solder the pins yourself.
- I2C
- I2C is a two-wire communication bus used by many sensors and small modules. It matters because several I2C devices can share the same two wires, but each device needs a compatible address and your controller must support I2C.
- JST PH
- A small keyed plug-and-socket connector with 2 mm pin spacing, often used for low-power electronics connections. You need the correct JST PH cable, and its current rating limits how much power should be passed through it.
- RAM
- RAM is temporary memory used while a device is running, and its contents are lost when power is removed. A “Run in RAM” mode is useful for testing settings without permanently programming the module, but it may not support every feature.
- SAMD51
- A family of 32-bit microcontroller chips used to run the main program on a board. In this kit it handles the display-driving work, so it matters for performance when showing animations and graphics on an LED matrix.
- SPI
- A fast serial communication bus often used for displays, memory cards, and sensors. It matters because SPI devices need specific pins for clock and data, plus a separate chip-select line for each device.
- TFT
- A thin-film transistor display is a common type of colour LCD used for graphics screens. Knowing a product is for TFTs helps you check that the driver board matches the display’s connector, resolution, backlight, and signalling method.
- TOPS
- TOPS means trillions of operations per second, often used to describe AI accelerator performance. It helps compare whether a computing module is suited to lightweight image recognition or more demanding neural-network workloads.
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