Computers are the primary driver of technology and BeagleBoard.org Foundation is bringing back the open nature of early computers with BeagleY®-AI, a move critical to innovation, business and education. BeagleY®-AI is about the size of a business card and is compatible with popular accessories, add-on hardware and enclosures available for similar sized computers, but it is open source hardware, runs well without a fan and includes programmable processors capable of running 4 trillion operations per second (4 TOPS) suitable for executing deep learning algorithms.
Restoring the Open Source Way
In the earliest days of computers, details about both the physical hardware design and provided software were given to owners, enabling them to understand and even repair the systems they purchased. Although we’ve recently seen rapid growth in computers running open source software, the designs of the computers themselves have typically remained wrapped in mystery and available only to a select few. BeagleBoard.org Foundation seeks to enable researchers, engineers and educators to be more empowered by the computing platforms upon which they rely, to the point of putting them in control of reaching their own goals, and BeagleY®-AI is a critical step along that path.
Industrial-ready Design
BeagleBoard.org BeagleY®-AI leverages broadly available and industrial proven Texas Instruments processors, specifically the AM67A system-on-chip (SoC), which features a quad-core 64-bit Arm® CPU subsystem, 2 general-purpose digital-signal-processors (DSP) and matrix-multiply-accelerators (MMA), GPU, vision and deep learning accelerators, and multiple Arm® Cortex™-R5 cores for low-power, low-latency GPIO control. Users can maximize these compute capabilities with high-speed PCIe, USB3, and Gigabit Ethernet interfaces, along with multiple capture and display connectivity options. The variety of computing resources and interfaces enables optimizing the performance and power consumption for the targeted computing workload.
Open Source is Business Friendly
For business leaders and engineers, this means you can leverage readily available solutions for rapid prototyping, but not be limited by the business plans of others, even us. You can work with multiple vendors and take control over your supply chain. You can examine all of the information about the design, confirming it is truly suited for your end-solution goals. You can get started utilizing our flat pricing model and broad availability, then leverage your own purchasing power as you grow.
Researchers Can Rely on Open Source for Longevity
For researchers, our commitment to longevity and openness means you can standardize your approach to problems and others can build upon your research. We’ve seen this to be very impactful for researchers utilizing BeagleBone Black for over 10 years. You can customize the design to suit your specific needs and build on a detailed understanding of the computing power available in your laboratory. Specifically, the ability to execute deep learning algorithms in real-time and customize those algorithms for real-world data collection, without needing additional hardware integration or depending on closed-source solutions, provides a powerful tool not commonly available today.
Education Depends on Open Source
For educators, building on knowledge which is practical in industry today provides your students with benefits not just in the job market, but in being able to dive deeper with your understanding. Our open source approach allows anyone to have an impact that benefits everyone in the community. Going beyond step-by-step instruction, to engaging with developers in a way that shapes future understanding, makes it easier for all of us to build on the shoulders of the giants that got us this far. Specifically, the ability to perform artificial intelligence and robotics tasks, without adding the noise and reliability concerns of a fan, makes BeagleY-AI uniquely suited for new and exciting classroom activities, while still enabling the exercises you may have already implemented.
BeagleBoard.org Remains Dedicated to Open Source
BeagleY®-AI is the latest, and one of the most impactful, in a long history of innovative open hardware single board computers designed in the BeagleBoard.org community and licensed freely by the BeagleBoard.org Foundation that supports the community. Everyone is invited to join us in shaping the future of computers at www.beagleboard.org.
Available for Order
BeagleY®-AI is available for order now with availability from BeagleBoard.org® distributors around US$70 in June. Find BeagleBoard.org® distributors listed at beagley-ai.org. For detailed documentation or more information, visit www.beagleboard.org.
BeagleY and BeagleBoard.org are registered trademarks of BeagleBoard.org Foundation.
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