This blog post was originally published at Xailient’s website. It is reprinted here with the permission of Xailient.
In this post, I will show you how to set up a Raspberry Pi for computer vision.
The Raspberry Pi is a series of low-cost, single-board computers, that are as small as your credit card. They have been very popular amongst hobbyists and makers around the world since the first version came out in 2012. That same year Raspberry Pi won T3’s Innovation of the Year award.
Around 30 million Raspberry Pis were sold by the end of the year 2019.
— The Inquirer
In eight years, the Raspberry Pi has gone through a lot of iterations and improvements. Below is a table showing different models of Raspberry Pi that have been released.
Generations of released Raspberry Pi Models
Projects Using Raspberry Pi
Here is a list of some interesting projects that use Raspberry Pi, to give you some ideas on how people are using it:
- Home Automation
- Basic Object and Motion Detection
- DashCam
- Media Streaming Server
- WhatsApp Surveillance Video Camera with IR Proximity Sensors
In this post, I will show you how to set up your Raspberry Pi 3B+ model so that you can start using it to create your own projects.
Raspberry Pi 3B+
Raspberry Pi 3B+ Specifications
Raspberry Pi 3B+ is the final version of the Raspberry Pi 3 range.
- Processor: Broadcom BCM2837B0, Cortex-A53 64-bit SoC @ 1.4GHz
- Memory: 1GB LPDDR2 SDRAM
- Networking: Gigabit Ethernet over USB 2.0 (maximum throughput 300 Mbps), 2.4GHz and 5GHz IEEE 802.11.b/g/n/ac wireless LAN
- Bluetooth: Bluetooth 4.2, Bluetooth Low Energy (BLE)
- GPU: Broadcom Videocore-IV
- Storage: Micro-SD
- GPIO: 40-pin GPIO header, populated
- Ports: HDMI, 3.5mm analogue audio-video jack, 4x USB 2.0, Ethernet, Camera Serial Interface (CSI), Display Serial Interface (DSI)
- Dimensions: 82mm x 56mm x 19.5mm, 50g
- Operating temperature: 0–50°C
- Production Lifetime: will remain in production until at least January 2023
Things You Will Need:
- Raspberry Pi 3B+
- SD card
- SD card reader
- Ethernet Cable
Operating System You Will Need to Download:
- Raspbian Buster: This is the operating system we will be installing on our Raspberry Pi 3B+. Please download Raspbian Buster with desktop and recommended software.
Software that You Will Need to Download:
- Etcher: Etcher is a free and open-source utility used for writing image files such as .iso and .img onto storage media to create live SD cards and USB flash drives.
- VNC viewer: VNC viewer is software that allows remote access and control of a device that has VNC server enabled.
Steps to Set Up Your Raspberry Pi for Computer Vision:
- Insert the SD card into your PC/laptop using the SD card reader.
- Format the SD card.
- Use Etcher software to burn the Raspbian Buster image file to the SD card.
Select image to burn in Etcher
Select target to burn the image
Flash image
- Now from remote access, connect it to wifi so that you can access it without having to connect it to the PC using an ethernet cable.
Add ssh file to root directory of SD card
- Eject the SD card from the PC/laptop, insert it into the Raspberry Pi, and turn the Raspberry Pi on by connecting it to power.
- Connect the Raspberry Pi to the PC/laptop using an ethernet cable.
Raspberry Pi 3B+ with ethernet cable and power cable connected
- SSH into the Pi from your PC using terminal. Enter the following command:
- You will be prompted to enter a password. Enter the default password (raspberry).
- Now enable vncserver on the Raspberry Pi using the following command:
- From your PC, open VNC viewer and add the IP address of the Raspberry Pi to remotely connect to it.
- Now from remote access, connect it to wifi so that you can access it without having to connect it to the PC using an ethernet cable.
All done! You now know how to set up a Raspberry Pi for computer vision, and your Raspberry Pi 3B+ is ready to be used.
Looking to implement real-time face detection on a Raspberry Pi? Check out this post.
Looking to implement real-time face tracking on a Raspberry Pi? Check out this post.
Sabina Pokhrel
Customer Success AI Engineer, Xailient
