Adafruit has been working with the AIY kits for a while, and we’ve had a ton of fun with them. We’re really excited about the updates Google is rolling out and think you will be too.
Check out the announcement from Google to learn more!
To help prepare students for the challenges of the future and integrate better into STEM lesson plans,
we’re launching a new version of our AIY kits that make getting started a little easier.
The AIY Voice Kit v2 and Vision Kit v1.1, both now work with the new Raspberry Pi Zero WH — which is
included — along with a pre-provisioned SD card, and USB connector cable. Everything you need to get
started is right there in the box!Last year, AIY Projects launched to give makers the power to build AI into their projects with two
accessible, affordable, and extensible kits. We’re seeing continued demand for the kits, especially from
the STEM audience where parents and teachers alike have found the products to be great tools for the
classroom. STEM is important to Google, because while we don’t know exactly what the jobs of
tomorrow will look like, we do know that computer science skills, like analytical thinking and creative
problem solving, will be a big part of the future.To help prepare students for the challenges of the future, and integrate better into STEM lesson plans,
we’re launching a new version of our original kits to make classroom use easier.
The original AIY kits were designed for makers, requiring Raspberry Pi (sold separately) and familiarity
with Raspbian Linux and Python. We love our passionate maker community, and with more interest from
the STEM audience, we’re working to improve the kits (recommended age 14+) to also make them easy
to use for novices — and hope that parents, students and teachers will find them more suitable for
technical educational programs.To make setup easier, AIY Voice Kit v2 has been redesigned to work with the new Raspberry Pi Zero
WH, which comes included in the box along with the USB connector cable and pre-provisioned SD card.
Now users no longer need to download the software image and can get running faster.
Caption: AIY Voice Kit v2 includes Raspberry Pi Zero WH and pre-provisioned SD card
AIY Vision Kit v1.1 also works with the new Raspberry Pi Zero WH, included in the box along with the
Raspberry Pi Camera v2. The kit also includes a USB connector cable and pre-provisioned SD card, so
users no longer need to download the software image and create it themselves.
We’re also introducing the AIY companion app for Android, available here in Google Play, to make
wireless setup and configuration a snap. The kits still work with monitor, keyboard and mouse as an
alternate path and we’re working on iOS and Chrome companions which will be coming soon.The AIY website has been refreshed with improved documentation, now easier for young makers to get
started and learn as they build. It also includes a new AIY Models area, showcasing a collection of
neural networks designed to work with AIY kits. While we’ve solved one barrier to entry for the STEM
audience, we recognize that there are many other things that we can do to make our kits even more
useful. We’re hoping to partner with the STEM educator and parent community to continuously improve
our kits to suit their needs.The new kits have arrived at Target Stores and Target.com (US) this month and we’re working to make
them globally available through retailers worldwide. Sign up on our mailing list to be notified when our
products become available.We hope you’ll pick up one of the new AIY kits and learn more about this growing “Edge AI” ecosystem
of smart devices. Be sure to share your build recipes on Hackster.io and social media using
#aiyprojects.
