Linux camera (BeagleY-AI)

The BeagleY-AI camera is a Linux camera: it runs a small Linux system. It runs object detection on the camera itself, on the board’s AI accelerator, and sends the media server video plus what it detected. It updates its whole system safely over the air, and can host a Thread gateway.

What you need

Part

Notes

BeagleY-AI

with a 5 V / 3 A USB-C power supply

Raspberry Pi Camera Module 3 Wide NoIR (IMX708)

the only Camera Module 3 variant the image supports today: see Set up cameras

22-to-15-pin camera cable

the “Standard-Mini” cable sold for the Raspberry Pi 5

microSD card, 16 GB or larger

USB microSD card reader, plugged into the hub

the hub writes the card

1. Connect the camera module

Power off the board. The BeagleY-AI has two 22-pin camera connectors, CSI0 and CSI1/DSI0; the nn image uses CSI0 (the camera-only one). Connect the camera module to CSI0 with the 22-to-15-pin cable: the wide end goes into the board, the 15-pin end into the camera. Insert the cable fully and evenly and close both latches.

Photo needed: Camera Module 3 connected to the BeagleY-AI

Close-up of the BeagleY-AI’s CSI connector with the ribbon inserted: which connector (the board has two), which side the contacts face, the latch closed.

Todo

Write the ribbon orientation in words from a photo of a working camera (the BeagleBoard docs show the connectors only in diagrams).

2. Write the microSD card from the hub

  1. Plug the card reader, with the card in it, into the hub.

  2. Open the web app through an address the hub trusts for writing cards: your Cloudflare Tunnel address, the nginx site on port 80, or http://localhost:8769 on the hub itself (see Hub on the Orange Pi 6 Plus). Writing cards is refused on the open port 8769 from another computer.

  3. Open Factory › Flash device, and pick the nn-app-camera-beagleyai-imx708 image (sdcard.img.xz). The page changes to card mode and lists the card readers.

  4. Pick the card reader. Type ERASE in the confirm box.

  5. Press Erase card & write. The hub writes the card, then reads it back to check it.

When it says card written and verified, take the card out of the reader.

Photo needed: The card reader plugged into the hub

The Orange Pi 6 Plus with a USB microSD reader plugged in and a card in it.

Warning

Everything on the card is erased. The hub only lists removable card readers, never its own disks, but check you picked the right reader.

If the hub says it is missing nn-sdflash, the card-writing helper is not installed: run the hub installer again (Hub on the Orange Pi 6 Plus, step 2); it installs it.

3. Boot the camera

Put the card in the BeagleY-AI and power it on. On the first boot it prepares the card, then starts in setup mode and advertises over Bluetooth. This takes a minute or two.

4. Provision and register

The wizard is the same as for an ESP32-P4 camera (FreeRTOS camera (ESP32-P4), step 3):

  1. Devices › + Add new device. Choose Wi-Fi camera: BeagleY-AI cameras use the same Bluetooth setup.

  2. In the scan result the camera shows as Linux camera (BeagleY).

  3. Give it a name, your Wi-Fi network and password, and press Start setup.

  4. Wait for camera joins Wi-Fi and registers.

The camera then appears on Devices, and its detections appear on the Events tab.

Note

The BeagleY-AI image has no SSH login and no default password: nobody can log into your camera over the network. You manage it from the hub.

Unregister

As for ESP32-P4 cameras: Device Status › Unregister device. The camera wipes its settings and returns to setup mode.

Next: Update cameras over the air.