Three AI-annotated camera feeds and a 4K video running on a single SoC? Synaptics just streamlined evaluation and development of its AIoT processors!
In the first of a few interviews with Synaptics at Embedded World 2024, ipXchange talks to Sid about a new hardware and software platform for high-level AI processing at the edge. It’s called Astra!
For those unfamiliar with what Synaptics does, this company makes high-performance, low-power compute modules – and connectivity solutions – that enable smarter IoT devices. With many processing options on offer, the new Astra platform offers a unified experience both from a hardware and software development perspective.
This is best illustrated perhaps by the new Astra Machina Kit, which features a breakout base board which is compatible with many of Synaptics modules – just plug in the one you want to use and get developing!
The Astra Machina Kit base board gives you full access to all the connections for multiple video and camera feeds and peripherals like USB, ethernet, and flexible wireless connectivity options.
For example, everything you see on the screen is running on the SL1680 embedded IoT processor. This System on Chip (SoC) is built around a quad-core Arm Cortex-A73 64-bit CPU, which natively runs Linux and/or Android operating systems and is well suited for serious multi-feed video processing in 4K thanks to a GPU for graphics and AI acceleration, and separate multimedia accelerators.
In the second demo, we see the SL1620 in action with three real-time AI-enhanced camera feeds running – identifying various AI models such as face, object, and pose detection – alongside a 4K video feed. Unlike the SL1680, this SoC does not have a multi-TOPS NPU, so all this AI functionality is actually running on the GPU!
If you’re working on a smart IoT device and want seriously powerful integrated AI capabilities, Synaptics’ new Astra platform is certainly something to check out, so follow the link to the board page below and fill out a form to be added to the early adoption list. Full release is expected in Q3 2024.
Keep designing!
Enjoyed this video with Synaptics? Check out our previous encounter back at Hardware Pioneers Max 2023:
High-performance real-time-augmented video using AI at the edge: Synaptics’ VS680 Multimedia SoC