Fraunhofer IMS and Arduino are jointly releasing a standalone, high-efficiency, AI framework for microcontrllers programmed in C to allow designers to train and run machine-learning algorithms. The high optimisation of the framework named AIfES allows even the 8-bit controller of the Arduino Uno to implement an ANN that can be trained in moderate time. This enables the creation of customizable devices that can adapt to the task at hand by means of training without using an external computer.

Small self-learning battery-powered devices can be developed that are independent of a cloud or other devices. Sensor data can be processed where they are generated, directly in the device. Training data can be captured directly in the device and used for training.

The Fraunhofer IMS with AIfES and Arduino enter a partnership that makes it possible to integrate AIfES directly into the Arduino IDEs through the Arduino library manager.

The Fraunhofer IMS has been using AIfES internally in AI research and development for years. AIfES has proved effective as a development tool for customer-specific AI solutions, and has been used in several interesting demonstrators, included in many public projects, and integrated into a number of future commercial products. Demonstrators include an extremely compact handwriting recognition system realized on an Arduino Uno, a wireless current sensor for condition monitoring and a gesture recognition system.

AIfES is offered within a dual license model. It can be used free of charge for open-source software under the GNU General Public License (GPL) version 3.