Building a wearable AI Device
As ADeus was the first wearable AI open-source project I discovered, I started building a device based on the hardware they were using, and more specifically on the tutorial at ADeus - Raspberry Pi Zero W Setup Guide.
I ordered the Pi and the same microphone but as I did not want to play around with 3D printing a case for now, I ended-up ordering the standard Raspberry Pi Zero Case. Using the case meant I could not use the standard header connector and had to solder the microphone cable directly on the board.
Back of the board with microphone cable directly soldered to it MEMS microphone, this thing is tiny!
As the standard case also comes with a cover supporting the camera module, I went on ordering one (even if ADeus doesn’t make use of it for now). I initially ordered the camera module 3, which is the current one but it does not work in the standard case. I then ordered a camera module 2 but, as can be seen on the picture below, the fit is not perfect either, it seems the case was made for the original version of the module and there were some changes since then.
For the finishing touches, I used hot glue to attach the microphone, protecting it with a foam cover, and at the back I re-used a clip/pin from a conference badge fixed with strong double-sided adhesive.
Final assembled device, front and back
This keeps the form factor relatively small (shallow at least) but it doesn’t include a battery. This means going the VisionPro way, using an external battery pack.
Going VisionPro with an external battery pack
Which in the end, is not too much of an issue when wearing it with a shirt.
Wearing it with a shirt
With the hardware part ready, I can move on to installing and testing ADeus but also writing some of my own code. More on that in a later post.