VIA Technologies, Inc., today announced the launch of the VIA Edge AI Developer Kit, a highly-integrated package powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 820E Embedded Platform that simplifies the design, testing, and deployment of intelligent Edge AI systems and devices.

The kit combines the VIA SOM-9X20 SOM Module and SOMDB2 Carrier Board with a 13MP camera module that is optimized for intelligent real-time video capture, processing, and edge analysis. Edge AI application development is enabled by an Android 8.0 BSP, which includes support for the Snapdragon Neural Processing Engine (NPE) and full acceleration of the Qualcomm Hexagon DSP, Qualcomm Adreno 530 GPU, or Qualcomm Kryo CPU to power AI applications. A Linux BSP based on Yocto 2.0.3 is set to be released in June this year."The VIA AI Edge Developer Kit reduces the cost and complexity of designing, testing, and deploying next-generation Edge AI systems and devices," said Richard Brown, Vice-President of International Marketing, VIA Technologies, Inc. "By bringing together the core hardware and software components into a single package, the kit is primed for the development and optimization of video AI applications such as facial recognition and object detection for a myriad of smart camera, smart signage, interactive kiosk, and intelligent robotics systems and devices."

Availability and Pricing
The VIA Edge AI Developer Kit is available in two configurations from the VIA Embedded online store at:

• VIA SOM-9X20 SOM Module and SOMDB2 Carrier Board with 13MP CMOS Camera Module (COB 1/3.06" 4224x3136 pixels): US$629 plus shipping
• VIA SOM-9X20 SOM Module and SOMDB2 Carrier Board: US$569 plus shipping
• Optional 10.1" MIPI LCD touch panel: US$179 plus shipping.

VIA also provides a full set of hardware and software customization services that accelerate system commercialization and minimize development costs. A full turnkey development service is also available.