Summary of HIMAX WE-I PLUS EVB: COMPUTER VISION AND AI ON THE EDGE
The Himax WE-I Plus EVB is a compact development board for edge AI and computer vision, featuring a WE-I Plus ARC 32-bit EM9D DSP (400 MHz), 2 MB SRAM, 2 MB Flash, a 640×480@60 FPS CMOS image sensor, accelerometer, microphones, and USB bridge. It supports TensorFlow Lite for Microcontrollers, Synopsys embARC MLI, and integrates with Edge Impulse for easy dataset collection, model training, and deployment.
Parts used in the Himax WE-I Plus EVB:
- WE-I Plus ASIC (HX6537-A) – ARC 32-bit EM9D DSP with FPU, 400 MHz
- 2 MB SRAM
- 2 MB Flash
- Himax HM0360 AoS TM ultra-low power CCM CMOS sensor (1/6” , 640 x 480 @ 60 FPS)
- FTDI USB to SPI / I2C / UART bridge
- STM LSM9DS1 3-axis accelerometer
- 2x microphones (left and right)
- 2x LEDs
- Expansion headers: 1x I2C port, 3x GPIO, power and ground pins
Edge computing has many great advantages. When you take some resource-heavy work from servers and let your less capable but still slightly powerful microcontrollers, you end up freeing server resources. Also, depending on what you are doing, you can get away with not using a server at all! There is a lot you can do these days, when it comes to AI and machine learning on the edge. A great example of it lies on the Himax WE-I Plus EVB development board, which we will take a look today.
The Himax We-I Plus EVB is a small, yet powerful development board for AI and computer vision applications. Being developed by Sparkfun, it makes use of Google Tensorflow Lite for Microcontrollers framework and Synopsys embARC MLI library, it contains all the necessary ingredients for your computer vision projects. It makes use of a WE-I Plus ASIC with an embedded DSP developed by Synopsys running at 400 MHz and some beefy 2 MB internal SRAM and Flash to deploy your neural network models. Regarding peripherals, you have at your disposal a CMOS image sensor capable of delivering 640 x 480 pixel images at 60 frames per second, along with a 3-axis accelerometer, and 2 microphone sensors.
Taking a detailed glance at the specs:
- WE-I Plus ASIC (HX6537-A) – ARC 32-bit EM9D DSP with FPU, clocked at 400 MHz
- Memories – 2 MB SRAM and 2MB Flash
- Himax HM0360 AoS TM ultra-low power CCM – 1 / 6” CMOS sensor, with 640 x 480 pixel resolution at 60 FPS
- FTDI USB to SPI / I2C / UART bridge
- STM LSM9DS1 3-axis accelerometer
- 2x microphones (L/R)
- 2x LED’s
- Expansion: 1x I2C port, 3x GPIO, power and ground pins
Now, besides the interesting hardware package it proves to be, a means to develop your projects easily and fast is still needed. This is where its integration with Edge Impulse comes in. Being the leading development platform for machine learning on edge devices, based on TinyML (which you can read about below), making this process a lot easier for you. There, you can train models with the datasets collected with your edge device and then deploy them on your device with almost no hassle. It is a very powerful tool, whether if you are taking your first steps in machine learning or an advanced developer, so I recommend you give it a try. It has a free tier, so you have nothing to lose.
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- What processor does the Himax WE-I Plus EVB use?
It uses the WE-I Plus ASIC (HX6537-A) with an ARC 32-bit EM9D DSP and FPU clocked at 400 MHz. - How much memory is available on the board?
The board includes 2 MB SRAM and 2 MB Flash. - What image sensor and resolution does the board have?
It uses the Himax HM0360 CMOS sensor with 640 x 480 pixel resolution at 60 FPS. - Does the board include motion sensing?
Yes, it includes an STM LSM9DS1 3-axis accelerometer. - Are there audio inputs on the board?
Yes, the board has two microphones (left and right). - What interfaces are available for expansion?
Expansion includes 1 I2C port, 3 GPIO pins, and power and ground pins. - Which software frameworks does the board support for ML?
It supports TensorFlow Lite for Microcontrollers and the Synopsys embARC MLI library. - How can I train and deploy models for this board?
You can use Edge Impulse to collect data from the device, train models, and deploy them to the board. - Does the board provide a USB bridge for communication?
Yes, it includes an FTDI USB to SPI / I2C / UART bridge. - Is Edge Impulse suitable for beginners using this board?
Yes, Edge Impulse simplifies TinyML development and has a free tier, making it suitable for beginners and advanced users.
