PIXY – CMUcam 5 – simplify computer vision processing by pairing a powerful dedicated processor with the image sensor. Pixy processes images from the image sensor and only sends the useful information (e.g. purple dinosaur detected at x=54, y=103) to your microcontroller. And it does this at frame rate (50 Hz). The information is available through one of several interfaces: UART serial, SPI, I2C, digital out, or analog out. So your Arduino or other microcontroller can talk easily with Pixy and still have plenty of CPU available for other tasks.
It’s possible to hook up multiple Pixys to your microcontroller — for example, a robot with 4 Pixys and 360 degrees of sensing. Or use Pixy without a microcontroller and use the digital or analog outputs to trigger events, switches, servos, etc.
Pixy can find literally hundreds of objects at a time. It uses a connected components algorithm to determine where one object begins and another ends. Pixy then compiles the sizes and locations of each object and reports them through one of its interfaces (e.g. SPI).
Pixy is unique because you can physically teach it what you are interested in sensing. Purple dinosaur? Place the dinosaur in front of Pixy and press the button. Orange ball? Place the ball in front of Pixy and press the button. It’s easy, and it’s fast.
PixyMon is an application that runs on your PC or Mac. It allows you to see what Pixy sees, either as raw or processed video. It also allows you to configure your Pixy, set the output port and manage color signatures. PixyMon communicates with Pixy over a standard mini USB cable.
Face detection
Face detection will be in the release. Stay tuned! But in the meantime, Pixy is a great sensor, primarily intended to recognize objects using color cues. If you already own Pixy or find yourself in possession of one soon, all firmware updates and new functionality will be available to you.
Technical specs
- Processor: NXP LPC4330, 204 MHz, dual core
- Image sensor: Omnivision OV9715, 1/4″, 1280×800
- Lens field-of-view: 75 degrees horizontal, 47 degrees vertical
- Lens type: standard M12 (several different types available)
- Power consumption: 140 mA typical
- Power input: USB input (5V) or unregulated input (6V to 10V)
- RAM: 264K bytes
- Flash: 1M bytes
- Available data outputs: UART serial, SPI, I2C, USB, digital, analog
- Dimensions: 2.1″ x 2.0″ x 1.4″
- Weight: 27 grams
More Info HERE – http://cmucam.org/projects/cmucam5/wiki
Add-ons
- Pan/Tilt Mechanism (not included) for Pixy CMUCam5 available: HERE
