Setting up the OpenMV Cam

Few weeks back, we talked about OpenMV - the small embedded computer vision module with a built-in camera, that can be programmed to perform various vision tasks. It gives you the ability to bring computer vision in to your embedded projects.

After I first read about it, I was eager to get my hands on a kit. Their official site - openmv.io - offers international shipping, as well as links to local distributes in some countries. The shipping was quite fast.

The OpenMV Cam M7

First Impressions

The cam comes with a really nice clear plastic case. The headers (used to connect other shields on to the board) comes separate (pictured above). This gives you the option to solder them - or other types of headers - yourself if needed. Headers aren't essential for the basic usage of OpenMV. Both the case and the board itself has an excellent build quality.

The cam itself is smaller than I expected: about 2/3 the size of a credit card.

The size of the OpenMV Cam

Embedded Computer Vision with OpenMV

Have you ever wanted to put computer vision into an embedded device? But wasn't sure whether it's possible to cram in a computer vision algorithm into a small hardware device?

Well, that's what the OpenMV project is all about.

OpenMV is a programmable embedded device, with a built-in camera, that you can program with variety of vision tasks.

The OpenMV Cam M7 (Image source)

The OpenMV project has been started back in 2013 with a goal of becoming the "Arduino of Machine Vision". They now have the The OpenMV Cam M7 (pictured above), powered by a 216MHz ARM Cortex M7 processor and 512KB.