Chapter 15. Becoming a Maker: Exploring Embedded AI at the Edge

Contributed by guest author: Sam Sterckval

You know how to build a great AI application, but you want more. You don’t want to be limited to just running AI software on some computer, you want to bring it out in the real physical world. You want to build devices to make things more interactive, to make life easier, to serve humanity, or perhaps just for the fun of it. Maybe you want to build an interactive painting that smiles at you when you look at it. A camera on your door that makes a loud alarm when an unauthorized person attempts to steal delivered packages. Maybe a robotic arm that sorts recyclables and trash. A device in the woods to prevent wildlife poaching, perhaps? Or a drone that can autonomously survey large areas and identify people in distress during floods. Maybe even a wheelchair that could drive on its own. What you need is a smart electronic device, but how would you build it, what would it cost, how powerful would it be? In this chapter, we begin to address those questions.

We look at how to implement AI on an embedded device—a device that you might use in a “maker” project. Makers are people with a DIY spirit who use their creativity to build something new. Often starting as amateur hobbyists, makers are fun-loving problem solvers, roboticists, innovators, and sometimes entrepreneurs.

The aim of this chapter is to spark your ability to select the appropriate device for the task (which means not ...