Himax Launches WiseEye WE-I Plus HX6537-A with Full Support for TensorFlow Lite for Microcontrollers

It sometimes feels like new machine learning-focused dev boards are being announced every day, so how do you stand out in an increasingly crowded space? Himax's new WiseEye WE-I Plus EVB demands attention thanks to three compelling features: its powerful yet power-conscious HX6537-A ASIC, an integrated Himax HM0360 ultra-low-power VGA mono camera, and built-in support for all of the TensorFlow Lite Micro examples!

The board is designed around the HX6537-A WE-I Plus ASIC, itself containing a Synopsys ARC EM9D DSP running at 400MHz with 2MB internal SRAM and 2MB flash for storing large (on a tinyML scale) models. The Arc EM9D is optimized for DSP-intensive machine learning applications thanks to its use of the ARCv2DSP Instruction Set Architecture. The EM9D is able to save power by switching off until it is needed, for example being triggered by an event from the computer vision accelerator.

In addition to the Himax HM0360 ultra-low-power VGA mono camera, the WE-I Plus board features an STM LSM9DS1 IMU for vibration detection, and two MEMS microphones for voice applications. Two LEDs provide visual indication of classification.

Another impressive feat from Himax is achieving support for the full battery of TensorFlow Lite Micro examples. Only a handful of high-profile boards, such as the Arduino Nano 33 BLE Sense and ESP32, have made it into the official TensorFlow repo — and they require additional sensors like cameras or microphones in order to complete the person detection and micro speech demos. The WE-I Plus already has everything you need on one board.

"[The] Himax WE-I Plus, coupled with Himax AoS image sensors, broadens TensorFlow Lite ecosystem offering and provides developers with possibilities of high performance and ultra-low-power," Pete Warden, Technical Lead of TensorFlow Lite for Microcontrollers at Google said of the new board.

A built-in FTDI USB to SPI/I2C/UART bridge for easy flashing and an expansion header with I2C and GPIO for additional sensors round out the package.

Features include:

WE-I Plus ASIC (HX6537-A)

• ARC 32-bit EM9D DSP with FPU
• 400MHz clock frequency
• 2MB SRAM
• 2MB Flash

Onboard

• Himax HM0360 AoS TM ultra-low power VGA CCM (60 FPS at 640 x 480)
• FTDI USB to SPI/I2C/UART bridge
• LDO power supply (3.3/2.8/1.8/1.2V)
• Three-axis accelerometer (ST LSM9DS1)
• Reset button
• Two microphones (L/R)
• Two user LEDs
• MicroUSB connector

Expansion header

• I2C port
• Three GPIOs
• Power/Ground

The Himax WE-I Plus EVB Endpoint AI Development Board is now in stock for just $65 at SparkFun.