tariq.ahmad, cstanton, Wow, this seems to be a good opportunity to get our hands on the BB AI and the MayerMakes' Add-On Cape.

Also, this terminator skull by mayermakes is really a motivation to think out of the box for any possibilities to use a given module.

For learning and understanding the capabilities of BB AI, I would like to transfer the project that I have done on Rpi 3 on to the BB AI not only to resolve the bottleneck issues imposed by the Rpi, but also to add more scalability to my project.

The project develops a smart device to detect a person with the help of image processing and take voice control commands from that user. This is to be deployed in industrial and emergency assist drones. The project is developed as part of my Bachelor thesis work and as part of a Hackster Competition where we won one of the grand prizes for a project that uses a part from this concept.  We have published 2 papers regarding this project at an International conference and also in a journal.

The real need to switch to BB AI is the fact that Rpi 3 that is being used now shows a lot of lag in the performance (currently running on OpenCV 3.2.0). It also restricts the scalability of the project as it limits the AI applications that can be run onboard. So I believe, after understanding the specs of BB AI, thanks to the EVE's, it will be able to perform a lot better and faster than the Rpi and also enable scalability to my application.

Regarding the voice control, though the Rpi ran on Sphinx base for voice recognition, with BB AI, I will be able to use more advanced AI algorithms (Eg Using Tensorflow, still learning this topic as part of my ML research) to run the detection algorithm with an increase in the performance, thanks to the DSP onboard for audio analysis.

Another issue I faced with Rpi was the controlling of onboard servos on the drone (for the pan-tilt mechanism of the camera). The issue can be resolved using a relevant Rpi HAT, but with the cost of adding more electronics and thereby more weight and complexity to the drone. With the BB AI, I would like to investigate the possibility of smooth and precise control of the servo motors using the PRU's.

The availability of onboard networking interface (WiFi) and onboard storage (eMMC Flash) is an added advantage to my application as the drone will be controlled over WiFi for short-range operations. The possibility of an LTE interface for long-range operation is under discussion.

Regarding my technical experience, I am a Computer Science graduate and I am passionate about Robotics. Currently learning on the theory and practices of Machine learning. In case I am selected to receive one of the kits, I will be documenting my project's transition from Rpi to BB AI and the further journey in the Beaglebone community space at Element14.

Jiss

jissdeodates, this project of yours is really interesting, and if put to an upgrade using a BB AI board, it would certainly become a powerful one than the current state with Raspberry Pi. All the best. Would love to await the results to see how vision and voice would make a perfect mix.

jissdeodates, this project of yours is really interesting, and if put to an upgrade using a BB AI board, it would certainly become a powerful one than the current state with Raspberry Pi. All the best. Would love to await the results to see how vision and voice would make a perfect mix.