Is Pycoral outdated?

[gnaegit]

I followed the instructions to install the OWL software on a Raspberry Pi 4 running Raspberry Pi OS. By default, Python 3.11 is installed. I then tried to install Pycoral to get the GoG algorithm working, but Pycoral only supports Python versions 3.6-3.9. When I checked Pycoral, I noticed that the latest release was in July 2021. This makes me concerned about the likelihood of future support for newer Python versions.

What do you think about this? Is Pycoral (and Google Coral) becoming outdated? Is it still a good choice, or is there a lack of development because there are better alternatives and Google Coral can no longer compete?

google-coral/pycoral#137

[geezacoleman]

Thanks for trying it out - when I added the support for PyCoral I felt reasonably confident Google would continue to support it. In the intervening period however and with the launch of the Pi 5, I've become a lot less optimistic about it to the point where I should probably remove the GoG PyCoral section for the reasons you've identified.

It is possible to set it up and use it still with something like the Hat AI from Pineboards for improved performance, for the Pi 5 at least running with the PCIe port. The best tutorial I've found is this one from Jung on YouTube, though it was made before that latest fork you linked to in issue 137.

In any case, for the Pi 4, the PyCoral will help considerably and the lack of PCIe port limits your options to USB-based devices. I've had it working on my Pi 4 previously and it worked fine, but that was before all the new OS/Python 3.11 compatibility issues. On the Pi 5, it's possible to run low resolution, small object detection models at ~ok FPS without any additional hardware. Plus there are new non-Google, Raspberry Pi supported options like the Hailo AI kit and I'm sure others will no doubt follow.

So if you're keen on deploying GoG models I'd recommend upgrading to a Pi 5 - it will give you a lot more flexibility. Fully supported GoG implementation for the OWL is in development and planned for release in the next 6 months, but will only be for Pi 5 and not with the Google Coral.

I will update the GoG section to reflect this now, so people aren't led astray, and I hope it isn't too frustrating for any time you've already invested in using the Coral with OWL. This was meant to be updated a lot earlier than now (a good 6 month delay) but life gets in the way sometimes of the best intentions!