Overview
Description
The AIK-RA8D1 provides developers with multiple and reconfigurable connectivity functions to expedite AI/ML system development. This easy-to-use hardware platform for multimodal AI/ML solutions is based on the RA8D1 MCU from the RA family of 32-bit MCUs.
The hardware platform is intended for use in a variety of AI/ML single or multimodal use cases supporting vision, real-time analytics, and audio. It enables multiple combinations of different plug-in sensors with the available on-board analog microphones and camera.
The kit is supported by Reality AI Software for real-time analytics, and by the Renesas Ready Partner Network for specific vision and audio-based use cases.
The AIK-RA8D1 will enable you to evaluate and test available application examples, as well as develop your own solutions using the available ecosystem and AI/ML software.
Features
- Hardware Features:
- Renesas RA8D1 480MHz Arm-Cortex-M85 based microcontroller with Helium and TrustZone
- Up to six Digilent Pmod™ ports (SPI/UART/I2C) for sensors and peripherals connectivity allowing rapid prototyping
- Camera and analog microphones interface
- Ethernet and CAN interfaces
- External SDRAM (128Mbit)
- Micro USB full-speed device support
- SEGGER J-Link® on-board debugger with Virtual COM port functionality
- Add-on AI Features:
- Out-of-the-box application example – Asset Movement Detection created by Reality AI Tools
- Various AI/ML solutions from the Renesas Ready Partner Network
Applications
Documentation
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| Type | Title | Date |
| Quick Start Guide | AIK-RA8D1 Quick Start Guide - Asset Movement Recognition
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| Manual - Development Tools | AIK-RA8D1 User's Manual
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| White Paper |
PDF
2.02 MB
The continued evolution of embedded AI requires both scalable hardware devices and software development environments for market growth. Because the development costs of embedded processor software are already higher, AI application software is the largest component, including DevOps. AI solutions from Renesas will continue to evolve and provide a software designer-oriented development environment that cover all MCUs and MPUs to simplify the process.
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| Flyer | PDF 683 KB | |
| Quick Start Guide | Face Detection Application Example
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| PCB Design Files | AIK-RA8D1 Design Package
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6 items
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Design & Development
Software
Supporting content such as a Board Support Package (BSP) and Quick Setup Guide (QSG) are available from the Renesas Ready Solutions Repository on GitHub.
Software & Tools
Software & Tools
| Software title
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Software type
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Company
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| Audio Event Detection Local AI–based Audio Event Detection identifies sound events such as baby crying and glass breaking with ~95% accuracy and 10–100 ms latency, enabling fast and reliable response to critical events. Supports deployment on Cortex-M0+ and comparable RISC-V/NPU/DSP platforms. Model size ranges from 80–500KB and can be optimized per application. Operates within monitoring modules to provide real-time alerts. Designed for safe, accurate, cost-effective use, with support for 200+ sounds including gunshots, dog barking, and more.
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AI | Aizip Inc. |
| Face ID Local AI–based face recognition identifies registered users in real-time with 96.0%–98.5% accuracy and ~500 ms latency. Runs on Cortex-M33+ and comparable RISC-V/NPU/DSP platforms. Uses camera input and supports storage of up to 100 faces locally, making it suitable for family and small business use. Built on a focused model architecture, with planned support for anti-spoofing enhancements.
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AI | Aizip Inc. |
| Liquid Level Detection AI vision model for camera-based liquid level detection, achieving 93–95% accuracy with ~1 GOPS compute and ~1 FPS for efficient embedded performance. Model size under 500KB, deployable on Cortex-M55+ and similar platforms. Handles water, milk, fog, and other complex conditions, including challenging visual cases like milk in white cups, water in clear cups, and coffee in black cups. Ideal for water dispensers and smart kitchen devices.
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AI | Aizip Inc. |
| MRZ Identity Document Scanner Provides vision-based Optical Character Recognition (OCR) for Machine-Readable Zone (MRZ) scanning on identity documents including ID cards and passports. Executes AI inference entirely on-device on the Renesas RA8D1 MCU, delivering low-latency performance within a 550KB RAM and 433KB ROM footprint. Supports TD1 MRZ format with expandability to TD2, TD3, MRVA, and MRVB. Enables plug-and-play integration for automated passport control, border security, access control, smart fare collection, and government services deployments.
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AI | Irida Labs |
| Object Detection: Package Detection AI vision–based package detection identifies and locates predefined objects in images with 91%–95% accuracy and ~0.5 second latency, enabling reliable performance across varying conditions. Supports deployment on Arm® Cortex®-M4+ and comparable RISC-V/NPU/DSP platforms. Models can be optimized for customer-specific datasets and hardware requirements. Runs on portable intelligent camera systems and outputs object locations within images for mobile safety applications. Designed for flexible expansion to detect additional objects, with planned support for real-time monitoring.
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AI | Aizip Inc. |
| QR Code Detection & Decoding Delivers real-time optical QR code detection and decoding using a vision-only, non-disruptive approach with tolerance to 3-axis rotations. Supports simultaneous detection of multiple QR codes, enabling automatic setting adjustments and instant product data retrieval. Runs entirely at the edge on the Renesas RA8D1 Microcontroller Unit, achieving 25ms inference time within a 704kB RAM and 781kB ROM footprint. Enables plug-and-play deployment across smart home, retail, public transportation, and access control applications.
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AI | Irida Labs |
| RA Flexible Software Package (FSP) FSP is an enhanced software package designed to provide easy-to-use, scalable, high-quality software for embedded system designs using Renesas RA Family of Arm Microcontrollers.
Note: FSP with e² studio Installer (Platform Installer) will install the e² studio tool, FSP packs, GCC toolchain, and Segger J-Link drivers required to use this software. No additional installations are required.
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Software Package | Renesas |
| Reality AI Tools Reality AI Tools® users automatically explore sensor data and generate optimized models.
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Solution Toolkit | Renesas |
| Reality AI Utilities Round-trip workflow for AI development and performance validation allowing to collect data, optimize models, and deploy directly to Renesas hardware
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Solution Toolkit | Renesas |
| Renesas AI Model Deployer for Vision AI The Renesas AI Model Deployer is an intuitive graphical user interface (GUI) tool integrated with NVIDIA’s powerful TAO Toolkit.
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Solution Toolkit | Renesas |
| Vision AI Development & Deployment Platform An end-to-end software and services platform for deploying and scaling computer vision-based Artificial Intelligence of Things (AIoT) solutions, compatible with RZ/V2L, RZ/V2H, and RA8D1 hardware. Covers the full stack from vision system design, embedded software, and AI model development to sensor management, third-party API integrations, and analytics. Supports DRP-AI acceleration for RZ/V platforms and enables rapid development cycles from proof-of-concept to large-scale deployment. Serves smart city, traffic analytics, Industry 4.0, and warehouse monitoring applications.
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AI | Irida Labs |
11 items
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Product Options
| Part Number | Status | Stock | Budgetary Price (USD) | Sampleable |
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| RTK0EG0003D00001BE | Active | In Stock | 1u | $217.65 | N/A |
Videos & Training
Renesas and Aizip have partnered to develop a compact face authentication solution using Renesas RA Family microcontrollers. The Aizip Face Identification technology supports up to 100 users with high accuracy and operates entirely on-device, ensuring secure, private, and reliable access control. This video introduces the solution and highlights its integration with RA8D1 MCUs and standard cameras.
Additional Videos
News & Blog Posts
Blog Post Apr 22, 2026 |
Blog Post Dec 18, 2025 |
Blog Post Dec 8, 2025 |
Blog Post Jul 18, 2025 |
Blog Post Jul 17, 2024 |
Blog Post Mar 13, 2024 |
Resources
Support
Support Communities
- AIK-RA8D1 Image Classification Project Example
... Image Classification Project" in AIK-RA8D1 but it is keeping fail and getting many errors when the source code is compiled and built. So, is there a same example project (Image Classification) that is running well on AIK-RA8D1?Thank youIK_Renesas This thread was automatically locked due to age.
Aug 20, 2025 - EK-RA8D1 AI MODEL DATA TYPE
Hi Renesas,I’m currently working with the EK-RA8D1 and AIK-RA8D1, and I’d like to ask about AI models for face detection and image classification. What is the maximum data type supported by the RA8D1 MCU for running AI models? Is it limited to INT8, or can ...
Aug 14, 2025 - e2 Studio renesas fatal error: bsp_linker_info.h: No such file or directory
Hello, I am working with e2 studio (Renesas) and I always face the same error after creating a new project. When I start a Renesas C/C++ project (Minimal) and try to build it immediately (without writing any code), the build fails with this error: D:/renesas/ ...
Sep 9, 2025
Support Communities
