Artificial Intelligence Hardware Powered 2025 SBC Models Introduced
The world of single-board computers (SBCs) is evolving rapidly, with a new wave of AI-centric devices hitting the market. These cutting-edge SBCs are designed to power edge AI, robotics, and vision applications, offering integrated AI accelerators, neural processing units (NPUs), powerful processors, advanced GPUs, and specialized hardware for image and video processing. Here's a roundup of some of the most exciting new SBCs that are making waves in the industry.
AI and Neural Processing Hardware
Many of these new SBCs come equipped with AI accelerators and neural engines designed for efficient edge inference tasks. For instance, Particle's Tachyon SBC incorporates a Qualcomm Dragonwing QCM6490 SoC with a neural coprocessor delivering 12 TOPS (tera-operations per second). NXP’s i.MX 95-based modules feature a built-in eIQ® Neutron NPU delivering up to 2 TOPS, integrated with ISP, VPU, and GPU units to optimize machine vision workloads. NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin and Orin Nano boards come with dedicated AI accelerators for demanding AI applications such as autonomous drones and smart cameras.
High-Performance CPUs and GPUs
Multi-core Arm-based CPUs balancing high performance and low power consumption are common in these new SBCs. For example, the Kryo cores in Qualcomm Dragonwing can reach up to 2.7GHz. GPUs enhancing graphics and parallel compute tasks are also prevalent, such as Arm Mali G310 supporting OpenGL ES, Vulkan, and OpenCL for machine vision and complex visualization, or AMD Ryzen Embedded 8000 Series with onboard GPU and PCIe Gen4 for high-speed camera integration and real-time inference.
Advanced Image and Video Processing
Integrated Image Signal Processors (ISP) capable of handling multi-sensor inputs, including 8 image sensors at up to 500 megapixels per second and features like RGB-IR and HDR support, are a key component of these SBCs. Video Processing Units (VPU) supporting multiple simultaneous streams and 4K video encoding/decoding (H.265/H.264 at 4K30P) are also common. Real-time machine vision optimized pipelines combining ISP, NPU, GPU, and VPU are a standard feature in these AI-focused SBCs.
Connectivity and Expansion
Cellular connectivity options such as 5G and 4G LTE fallback for remote or mobile edge AI deployments are available on some SBCs, like Particle Tachyon’s integrated 5G. High-speed local connectivity through Wi-Fi 6E, multiple COM ports, dual LAN, PCIe Gen4, and M.2 expansion slots for adding peripherals, cameras, or accelerators are also common features.
Software and Development Support
Toolkits and SDKs supporting AI model development and deployment, like NXP’s eIQ Toolkit compatible with open-source and proprietary tools within SDK and Yocto environments, are essential for these SBCs. Compatibility with popular AI frameworks and development ecosystems, such as TensorFlow and PyTorch, streamlines prototyping and production deployment.
Use Case Optimization
These boards are designed for a variety of applications, including autonomous drones, smart cameras, predictive maintenance, industrial automation, robotics, and AMRs (Autonomous Mobile Robots). High-resolution multi-display support (up to quad 4K) for control rooms and advanced visualization is another common feature.
In summary, these AI-centric SBCs embed powerful multi-core CPUs, multi-teraOPS NPUs, advanced GPUs, and dedicated vision processing units in compact and rugged platforms with rich connectivity and expansion capabilities, enabling sophisticated edge AI, robotics, and vision applications without dependency on cloud processing.
- The Tachyon SBC from Particle, propelled by Qualcomm's Dragonwing QCM6090 SoC, with its 12 TOPS neural coprocessor, demonstrates how these SBCs are leveraging technology to power edge AI.
- The NVIDIA Jetson AGX Orin and Orin Nano boards, equipped with dedicated AI accelerators, showcase how technology is enabling AI applications in systems like autonomous drones and smart cameras.
