FlowCount AI

How it fits together

FlowCount AI, part by part

Scroll or tap a part. Press “See the 3D CAD design” to watch the model, built from our CAD, light each part up and show how it connects.

See the 3D CAD designShow the concept

Real-time 3D render · drag to rotate · final design may varySwipe sideways to rotate

1. 01

   The whole FlowCount AI

   Ceiling cameras count people at a queue mouth and a service point; counts alone give the queue length and a posted wait time.

2. 02Brain

   Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W

   The brain: it runs the flowcount-node program

3. 

   03

   AI Camera (IMX500)

   Finds people in each frame on the sensor itself

   Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W · CSI-2 ribbon cable · Detection boxes, no images

4. 04

   Lens window

   Gives the camera a clean, replaceable view down

   Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W · Optical path · Light onto the sensor

5. 05

   Status light

   Steady means counting; blinking means no uplink

   Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W · GPIO 17 pin · LED on and off

6. 06

   USB Ethernet adapter

   Sends counts over a wired link

   Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W · USB OTG (micro-USB) · Counts every 5 s

7. 07

   PoE splitter

   Powers the node from the one ceiling cable

   Raspberry Pi Zero 2 W · 5 V micro-USB lead · 5 V power

8. 08

   All connected

   6 key parts, one program, and your phone

The idea

Two ceiling counters at a concession line show the real wait and tell the supervisor when to open another register

How the parts connect

FlowCount AI, wired up

Every part, what links it to the brain, and how the data reaches your phone. A solid line is a cable; a dashed line is a radio link.

The program

What controls FlowCount AI

while True:
    req = picam2.capture_metadata()          # no image saved, tensor only
    boxes = imx500.get_outputs(req)          # x, y, w, h, score
    people = [b for b in boxes if b.score >= 0.45]
    tracks = tracker.update(people)          # IDs live in memory only
    for line in lines:
        d = line.crossings(tracks)           # needs 5 frames past the line
        counts[line.id].add(d)
    if now() - last_pub >= 5:
        mqtt.publish(f'{base}/line/{line.id}', json.dumps(counts.flush()))
        last_pub = now()
    if now() - last_reset >= 600:
        tracker.reset()

To your phone

How the data reaches FlowCount console

Manager's laptop or phone browser, venue TV page

1. Node
2. PoE Ethernet · MQTT/TLS
3. Edge hub or cloud
4. HTTPS web page
5. Phone, laptop or TV

Key specs

Targets for production units; they may change during development.

Pricing

Target pricing. Large airport projects are quoted per terminal and may be delivered with an integrator.

Indicative launch pricing in USD, excluding taxes and shipping. Final pricing is confirmed before any balance is charged.

1. 28 Oct 2026, 17:25LatestA ballpark, zoo or museum food stand needs to know the real wait before fans walk away; airport queue systems need many stitched sensors and an integrator, and a stereo counter is about $899 a sensor (sources in DESIGN.md).

   • Drawn idea plan (idea.json): concession stand 104 on a ballpark concourse from above with the kitchen, the registers, the line snaking between stanchions and the walkway; pins for the counter over the registers, the counter over the queue mouth, the wait TV and the supervisor's phone
   • The product picture is now this drawn plan instead of the plain fallback card; drawn from the design notes, not the CAD
   • What we kept from the market work: sold to mid-size venues that buy without an integrator, not airports or small shops; the plan shows why two count lines are enough whatever shape the line takes
   • Next: drawn plans for more catalogue products that still show the fallback card

   See it in 3DFull research and design

2. 27 Oct 2026, 10:30Independent grocers have four jobs in every aisle: shelves run empty between shelf walks (independents ran 6.6% out of stock in fiscal 2025, FMS/NGA study), spills wait to be noticed and a slip claim commonly settles at $15–75k (law-firm figures), paper floor-walk logs are easy to back-fill, and owners lose buyers to the till queue without knowing it (Dor counters cost $59–150 a month). Our own four products for it cost about $4,476 and $466 a month for a 6-aisle store.

   • Combined into StoreEye (https://iemilabs.com/products/storeeye/); FlowCount AI itself is unchanged

   See it in 3DFull research and design

3. 27 Oct 2026, 07:20A builders’ merchant, timber yard or garden centre lets customers drive in, park, queue at the will-call counter and walk among forklifts. WorkSafe NZ fined a timber yard after a forklift knocked a pack onto a customer and asked yards to control people on foot and show customers where to park. Today each job is a separate tool: about $950 a truck for an AI reversing camera, $35 a month per camera for plate reading, paid processing for traffic counts and $859-919 per people counter.

   • Combined into SafeYard (https://iemilabs.com/products/safeyard/); FlowCount AI itself is unchanged

   See it in 3DFull research and design