Beaglebone AI
*************

The Beaglebone AI is used as secondary processing unit in our RaceCar platform. 
The board is built around a Texas Instruments (TI) AM5729 system-on-chip (SoC). 
Its computing capabilities enable the user to develop machine learning applications with ease. 
It supports all standard communication interfaces over an 46-pin header on either side of the board.
Additionally, it also supports a 16-bit LCD interface. 
The board was developed specifically for AI applications and has an integrated neural engine that processes complex algorithms on the hardware level.


.. image:: ../../images/bbai.png
        :align: center
        :scale: 60 %


The Beaglebone AI comes with an ARM-A15 based dual-core processor. 
It supports the standard ARM instruction set with hardware virtualization support. 
Two dual-core Programmable Real-Tume Units (PRU) subsystems are present to provide ultra low latency. 
Access to these PRUs are enabled via expansion headers. These dual-core PRUs are based on ARMv7E-M architecture for general purpose usage, particularly real-time control.

Technical Specifications
========================

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   * - Features
     - Specifications
   * - Maximum Processor Speed
     - 1.5GHz
   * - Co-processors
     - 2xC66x, 4xPRU, 4xARM Cortex-M4, 4xEVE, 2xPowerVR SGX544, IVA-HD
   * - Analog Pins
     - 7 (4-wire touchscreen capable) (3.3V)
   * - System on Chip Main Processor
     - Texas Instruments Sitara AM5729, 2x ARM Cortex-A15
   * - Digital Pins
     - 72 (including 7 analog pins which are digital capable)
   * - Memory
     - 1GB DDR3, 16GB eMMC flash on-board microSD card slot
   * - USB
     - USB 3.0 Type-C 5Gbps Host/Client Port, USB 2.0 Type-A Host Port
   * - Network
     - 1 Gigabit Ethernet, 2.4/5GHz WiFi, Bluetooth 4.2/BLE
   * - Supported Expansion Interfaces
     - 4x UART, 16-bit LCD interface, 2x I2C, 2x SPI, PWM, Timer, A/D, CAN, Pulse Capture, Quadrature Encoder, PRU GPIO, etc.

Known Issues
============

The Beaglebone AI gets heated up with the default OS booted from eMMC storage data.
In order to reduce the heat, flash the latest image of the debian OS from `here`_ on the SD card.
In case the heating issue persists, procure a Beaglebone AI fan cape.




.. _here : https://rcn-ee.net/rootfs/bb.org/testing/