Sipeed Launches MAIX-III AXera-Pi Module for High-Performance Low-Power Edge AI Vision Work
Built around the AXERA Tech AX620, this system-on-module can hit a high of 14.4 TOPS if your model can handle INT4 precision.
Sipeed has launched a system-on-module aimed at artificially intelligent computer vision projects, the MAIX-III AXera-Pi — offering a claimed 3.6 tera-operations per second (TOPS) at INT8 precision and with support for 4k30 video.
The MAIX-III AXera-Pi, brought to our attention by CNX Software, is built around the AXERA Tech AX620 system-on-chip, which features a quad-core Arm Cortex-A7 processor running at 1GHz along side a neural network co-processor offering a claimed 3.6 TOPS of compute at INT8 precision — or, if your models support it, can drop down to INT4 precision for a boost to 14.4 TOPS. The Proton AI-ISP, meanwhile, offers image processing at resolutions up to 4k30.
Elsewhere on the module is 2GB of LPDDR4x memory and room for an optional 16GB eMMC storage module — which, if left empty, gives way to microSD storage on the stock carrier board. Said carrier board also breaks out a gigabit Ethernet port, Wi-Fi connectivity, 3.5mm analog audio jack, a USB Type-C port for power and UART with a second as a USB 2.0 On-The-Go (OTG) port, a small general-purpose input/output (GPIO) header with analog-to-digital converter (ADC), a real-time clock, and two on-board MEMs microphones.
For camera connectivity, which is after all what the board is tailored towards, Sipeed has included three MIPI Camera Serial Interface (CSI) ports — one four-lane and two two-lane. There's no HDMI output, but for projects that need a local display the underside of the board boasts a four-lane MIPI Display Serial Interface (DSI) connector.
On the software side, Sipeed provides a Debian operating system and promises support for a range of models though AXERA's sample library. The company is also selling the bare module, a bundle with carrier board, and a "full board package," which includes the module, carrier, camera sensor, 5" display, acrylic case, and a 32GB microSD card.
More information is available on the Sipeed wiki in Chinese with a machine-translation option at the top-right; the bundles are now available to order on the company's AliExpress store, starting at $48 for the module alone and rising to $95 for the full bundle.