The trade magazine "Computer&Automation" has named a Kontron solution one of the "Products of the Year 2022" at its awards ceremony. In the readers' poll, the AI platform based on the Hailo Accelerator chip came third on the winners' podium.
Around 6,500 readers of "Computer&Automation" voted for their favourites from almost 100 products. The Kontron solution was awarded in the category "IPC & Embedded Computing". The "Products of the Year" are considered an indicator for current trends. Artificial Intelligence applications are just beginning to establish themselves in industry. Here, computing power is needed at the Edge, i.e. at the edge of the network or in the device itself, which until now could usually only be generated by high-performance computing in the data centre. Especially in the field of image processing/computer vision, Kontron, as an embedded specialist, has led the way with easy-to-use solutions.
Industrial AI requires computing power at the Edge
"The award from a renowned trade magazine that is read by many engineers and decision-makers is an important distinction for Kontron that we are very pleased about. Above all, it shows our AI platforms are considered state-of-the-art and that the solutions correspond to an increasing demand on the market," says Christoph Neumann, Vice President Technology of the Kontron Group.
With the integration of the Hailo chip, Kontron is relying on a technology that meets the requirements in the AI environment with a chip architecture specifically developed for neural network computing. As part of a strategic technology partnership, Kontron is working with the innovative Israeli AI chip manufacturer Hailo to develop and release next-generation AI edge inference solutions.
Outstanding performance: platform with super-fast AI chip
At the online award ceremony, C&A editor-in-chief Andrea Gillhuber asked first and foremost about the outstanding product feature: "The efficiency of the platform, the relationship between AI performance and parameters such as size and power of the design, is an important feature - and the speed with which AI tasks can be solved," Neumann said, summarising the most important advantages.
The small Pico ITX board (pITX-iMX8M-AI-H8) is based on an i.MX 8 processor and integrates Hailo technology with a power consumption of less than ten watts and above-average performance. In addition, the KBox A-150-WKL-AI-H8 box PC with Hailo-8 AI accelerator also received an award.
Easy-to-use AI solution
"We are very well positioned for all kinds of embedded applications that require exactly this small form factor and low power consumption," Neumann also explained. For users, he said, the starter kit included in the solution is particularly important, which includes a Yocto layer with drivers for the Hailo chip, as well as a complete ecosystem for inference and many application examples. "This makes it much easier to get started on the basis of a fully industrialised solution that can be used immediately and is 'production ready'," says the head of technology.
In 2022, more AI boxes are about to be released, and above all there will also be board-level products, Neumann announced. In the near future, Hailo technology will be integrated even more deeply into other form factors.
More information about the KBox solution:
https://www.kontron.com/en/products/kbox-a-150-wkl-ai-h8/p170548
More information about Hailo:
{{comment.comment}}