Arizona-based On Semiconductor has introduced a smart camera combining cloud-based AI with low-power image capture and recognition to enable IoT endpoints.

The RSL10 Smart Shot camera adds the power of AI-based image recognition to low-power IoT endpoints, such as surveillance cameras, restricted areas, factory automation, smart agriculture and smart homes. A companion smartphone app provides a user interface for the platform and acts as the gateway to cloud-based, AI-enabled object recognition services.

The platform brings together a number of OnSemi innovations, including the RSL10 SIP, which provides low-power Bluetooth Low Energy technology, and the ARX3A0 Mono 65˚ DFOV IAS module. The module is a compact prototype used for developing compact cameras with 360fps mono imaging based on the ARX3A0 CMOS image sensor.

Complemented by motion and environment sensors and power and battery management, these technologies can be used to capture images autonomously and identify objects within them.

Using the camera, developers can create an endpoint that automatically sends an image to the cloud for analysis when triggered by various elements including time or an environmental change, such as light or temperature. Equally, the camera platform can operate in low power mode while monitoring a specific part of its field of view, automatically taking an image when the scene’s contents change. The image is then sent to the cloud for processing, using AI to determine the contents of the image and then taking the appropriate action.

The image data are transferred to the cloud through a gateway, connected over Bluetooth Low Energy, using the RSL10 SIP. The low power credentials of the components used in the platform mean it can operate for extended periods of time from a single primary or secondary cell. The triggers are configured using the companion app, also over Bluetooth Low Energy.

“Hyper automation is the next evolutionary step in the IoT,” said Wiren Perera who heads IoT at OnSemi. “The RSL10 Smart Shot camera embraces that concept, by bringing the power of vision based AI closer to the edge to enable capabilities such as automatic object recognition and scene changes. We have been consistently delivering on a variety of device-to-cloud wireless sensors. Enabling the seamless addition of vision takes this to another tier.”

Typical applications may include adding smart cameras to wearable safety equipment, such as hard hats. In a commercial environment, a smart camera could be used to monitor the contents of a shopping cart, to support automated checkout. In vehicles, smart cameras will be used to monitor the occupants, such as small children in rear seats, to provide early warning of any safety issues. Around the home, smart cameras can scan the contents of cupboards to build shopping lists.

OnSemi has a network of manufacturing facilities, sales offices and design centres in markets throughout North America, Europe and the Asia Pacific.