The world of artificial intelligence (AI) has seen explosive growth, offering incredible new ways to solve problems, automate tasks, and create innovative systems. Raspberry Pi, the widely popular single-board computer, has become a central player in making AI accessible to makers, hobbyists, and developers.
With advanced AI HATs like the Raspberry Pi AI HAT 13 TOPS, the more powerful Raspberry Pi AI HAT 26 TOPS, and the Raspberry Pi AI Camera, there's now a treasure trove of possibilities for computer vision and machine learning projects.
These tools bring powerful capabilities to the fingertips of creators, allowing them to build everything from fun experiments to practical, real-world solutions.
At Pakronics, we are always excited to see how the community is leveraging these AI-powered tools.
In this blog, we’ll dive into some standout projects that use Raspberry Pi’s AI Kit to inspire your next venture into AI and computer vision.
Whether you're looking to automate a process, create something entertaining, or explore the cutting-edge tech of AI, there’s something here to spark your creativity.
1. The Peeper Pam Boss Detector: A Fun Twist on AI Vision
Ever wished you could know if your boss was sneaking up behind you while you're deep in your work? With Raspberry Pi’s AI Kit, you can build your very own "Peeper Pam Boss Detector." This quirky project uses computer vision to detect human presence and sends a signal to warn you if your boss is approaching.
Developed by VEEB Projects, this system combines a Raspberry Pi 5 with a Camera Module and AI Kit. The Raspberry Pi does all the heavy lifting of image recognition, identifying the human figure in the camera view. The system sends signals to another Raspberry Pi Pico W, which displays a warning. It’s a fun and functional way to explore object detection, and the project’s GitHub repository provides a useful starting point if you're interested in creating similar systems.
This project demonstrates how easy it is to use Raspberry Pi to create a project with practical uses in everyday life, and it opens up the door for countless other creative applications, such as monitoring pets or detecting intruders in a specific area.
2. Monster AI Pi PC: Exploring the Power with AI Accelerators
For those who want to push the limits of Raspberry Pi AI, Jeff Geerling took things to the extreme by building a "Monster AI Pi PC." This is an impressive project where eight neural processors come together to achieve incredible processing power. The setup, which includes Hailo-8L AI accelerators, gives the system a whopping 55 TOPS (trillions of operations per second), outpacing some of the latest processors from brands like AMD, Qualcomm, and Apple Silicon.
Geerling mounted the processors on a Raspberry Pi 5 using a specialized PCIe slot card, and with some tweaking of the firmware, he was able to unleash the true potential of this setup. While this project is on the more advanced side, it shows just how far you can go with Raspberry Pi and AI accelerators when you want to build something truly extraordinary.
This project is perfect for makers who want to experiment with machine learning at scale, as it provides a deep dive into the integration of multiple AI accelerators and high-performance computing. It’s the kind of project that can take your AI capabilities to an entirely new level.
3. Car Detection & Tracking System: Smarter Toll Collection
In a more practical application, Japanese maker Naveen has used Raspberry Pi’s AI Kit to build a car detection and tracking system for toll plazas. This proof of concept automatically identifies and monitors vehicles entering and exiting toll booths, ensuring an accurate tally of traffic data. By using Edge Impulse's computer vision tools and training a YOLOv5 machine learning model, the system is able to detect and track cars using a Raspberry Pi Camera Module with a wide lens.
The system can monitor multiple lanes at once, thanks to the wide-angle lens, and the data gathered can be used for analysis or real-time processing. This project showcases how Raspberry Pi’s AI Kit can be integrated into infrastructure applications to make operations more efficient and intelligent.
4. Safety Helmet Detection System: Ensuring Workplace Safety
Safety on construction sites is crucial, and one of the most basic safety measures is the wearing of helmets. With the help of Raspberry Pi and AI, it's possible to automatically detect whether workers are wearing helmets at all times, providing an additional layer of security. The Safety Helmet Detection System uses the Raspberry Pi AI Kit along with the advanced YOLOv8 machine learning model to quickly and accurately identify helmets in camera frames.
Shakhizat Nurgaliyev, the maker behind this project, has demonstrated how to use Raspberry Pi’s AI Kit to run real-time object detection, processing 30 frames per second to spot the helmets on workers' heads. The project also provides a guide for training the model and offers a dataset of annotated images to get started.
This project is a great example of how AI can be used to improve safety protocols in high-risk environments, helping ensure that safety standards are consistently met.
5. Accelerating MediaPipe Models: Faster, Smarter AI Pipelines
Google’s MediaPipe is an open-source framework designed for building machine learning pipelines, especially for applications involving images and videos. Developer Mario Bergeron decided to explore using Raspberry Pi’s AI Kit to accelerate MediaPipe models, showing a significant performance improvement. Using the Hailo-8L AI accelerator, the project achieved frame rates 5.8 times faster than when using TensorFlow Lite on Raspberry Pi alone.
Bergeron’s project focuses on detecting hand landmarks, faces, and body poses in real-time, providing valuable insight into how AI acceleration can enhance the performance of common ML tasks. Whether you’re looking to build gesture recognition systems or other video-based applications, this project offers inspiration and practical guidance on using Raspberry Pi to accelerate your AI workflows.
Wrapping Up: Start Your Own AI Journey
These projects represent just a handful of the many possibilities you can explore with Raspberry Pi’s AI Kit. The combination of accessible hardware and powerful AI capabilities opens up countless opportunities for creative exploration and practical solutions. Whether you’re building something for fun, for work, or for social impact, Raspberry Pi provides the platform to bring your ideas to life.
At Pakronics, we’re excited to see how makers and innovators use AI to push the boundaries of what’s possible. If you’re ready to start your own project, don’t hesitate to explore the Raspberry Pi AI Kit and its potential. Whether you’re a seasoned developer or just getting started, there’s never been a better time to dive into the world of AI with Raspberry Pi.