How can Edge AI enhance everyday experiences

In our daily life, a variety of products are bringing convenient experience to human beings: air conditioning brings us cool; Cars shuttle us from place to place; Solar panels can provide cleaner electricity. But what if we could further enhance the user experience of these products and further integrate them into enriching our lives? Imagine a future HVAC (Heating, ventilation and air conditioning) system that might remind you to replace the filter in time to ensure efficient operation of the air conditioner and keep you cool all summer long.

By applying neural network-based edge AI technology, we can deeply understand and improve products locally, that is, improve the user experience directly at the source of the event. Engineers can design and use data to train neural network algorithms and then execute those algorithms on embedded devices to solve problems. Integrating edge AI into everyday applications will therefore improve our lives, making products easier to use, safer, and more sustainable.

When people think of 'smart' devices these days, they mostly think of wireless connectivity and the concept of storing data in the cloud for decision making. However, "connected device" is not necessarily the same as "smart device". Making decisions at the edge means bringing computing power closer to the data source, allowing instant decisions to be made on the device. This helps to reduce latency, improve power, and enhance robustness and data security, thereby speeding up decision making.

Take smart home security cameras as an example, if you want to detect whether an object in your backyard is a cat or a stranger, using cloud AI requires data to be sent to the cloud, processed, and then sent back locally for decision making. This process is not only time-consuming, but also high energy consumption. When making decisions at the edge, highly integrated embedded devices run neural networks locally, reducing power consumption and improving security and privacy.

Adapt to future needs with edge AI

Edge AI is gradually reshaping the way we interact with electronics - reacting locally without the need for cloud-based resources, making interactions more responsive, efficient, and secure. Running AI algorithms locally (close to where the data is collected) can speed up decision-making, and its importance can even be life-threatening. In driving scenarios, for example, the vision processor can use radar detection technology to continuously monitor the surrounding environment, helping the vehicle quickly respond to obstacles and improve driving performance.

In the factory, edge AI can enable motor fault detection - by identifying signs of failure in advance and implementing predictive maintenance. The integration of edge AI prevents damage to the entire system, ensuring the reliability, efficiency and cost effectiveness of production operations.

In daily life, as edge AI functions continue to evolve, and applications become intelligent and interconnected, it will better adapt to and optimize human lifestyles. For example, air conditioners can use radar to locate household members, optimize air flow paths, and improve energy efficiency. And when someone enters your living room, the radar sensor can automatically turn the TV on and off.

In the field of renewable energy, edge AI can help us more strategically deploy resources and make more efficient and informed decisions. For example, solar panels with integrated edge AI can shut down systems before they ignite through fault detection and surge prevention, not only improving system safety, but also promoting the widespread use of renewable energy. It can be seen that edge AI can not only provide strong support for decision-making, ensure operational safety, improve system efficiency, but also lead us to a more sustainable future.

Resources for enhanced intelligence

Edge AI applications are growing, and Texas Instruments is committed to providing customers with a comprehensive range of hardware and software tools to help engineers, regardless of AI expertise or experience, easily get started. With a commitment to open source and easy-to-use software, Texas Instruments helps designers work with data and add meaningful intelligence to their systems.