Looks like big news in the world of edge AI computing 🖲: Raspberry Pi has rolled out a kit consisting of its M.2 HAT+ bundled with the Hailo-8L AI accelerator. This new combo brings serious AI horsepower to the Raspberry Pi 5, giving developers and engineers some impressive inferencing performance to play with.​​​
What’s in the box? Raspberry Pi M.2 HAT+ with already-connected Hailo-8L M.2 accelerator board, 16 mm stacking header, four spacers and eight screws, plus a Raspberry Pi microSD card and SD adapter.
The M.2 HAT+ connects to the Raspberry Pi 5’s PCIe port via a 30 mm ribbon cable.
Raspberry Pi AI Kit – board and accelerator
Hailo-8L M.2 accelerator board (top view)
Hailo-8L M.2 accelerator board (bottom view)
Yes, AI accelerators have been available in M.2 format, and the Raspberry Pi M.2 HAT+ was released not long ago, but this is the first official product to support the use case.
Only problem is the PCIe is single-lane, so you either use SSD or you use the AI accelerator. Unless you switch it, somehow.
Read my article at Elektor Magazine.