Synaptics’s Astra™ Machina SL2610 Development Kit has been awarded the 2026 Edge AI and Vision Product of the Year Award in the Edge AI Development Platforms category.
The Synaptics Astra™ Machina SL2600 Series Development Kit enables advanced Edge AI and visual intelligence by bringing multimodal, transformer-class inference directly onto embedded IoT hardware. The open and flexible development kit is built on the AI-native Astra™ SL2600 processors, allowing vision, audio, language, and sensor data to be processed locally with low latency, robust privacy, and high energy efficiency.
The most distinctive innovation of the SL2600 Series and its accompanying Development Kit is support for the Synaptics Torq™ Edge AI platform—a high-performance, low-power Edge AI Neural Processing Unit (NPU) subsystem. Torq is the industry’s first implementation of Google’s RISC-V–based Coral Open NPU with dynamic operator support enabling efficient execution of modern AI models—including vision transformers and multimodal pipelines—without proprietary toolchains or model constraints. The Astra platform reduces software lock-in by centering its Edge AI stack (Torq) on mainstream open-source building blocks—specifically a non-proprietary compiler/runtime based on IREE/MLIR—and by making key platform assets available through open-source methods. The kit’s modular hardware architecture further differentiates it from competitors. A configurable compute module, I/O baseboard, and expandable daughter cards support rapid prototyping of real-world vision systems with integrated connectivity, programmable I/O, and production-aligned interfaces.
“Winning the Edge AI and Vision Alliance Product of the Year award reinforces a simple truth: innovation only matters if it’s usable,” said Vikram Gupta, SVP & GM, Edge Compute & Connectivity and Chief Product Officer at Synaptics. “With the Synaptics Astra AI-Native platform and the Astra™ Machina SL2610 Development Kit, we’re giving developers not just powerful compute capabilities, but an open, flexible path to cut through fragmentation and build scalable, real-world Edge AI solutions.”
Synaptics is the pioneer and leader of human interface solutions, bringing innovative and intuitive user experiences to intelligent devices. Synaptics’ broad portfolio of touch, display, biometrics, voice, audio, and multimedia products is built on the company’s rich R&D, extensive IP and dependable supply chain capabilities. With solutions designed for mobile, PC, smart home, and automotive industries, Synaptics combines ease of use, functionality and aesthetics to enable products that help make our digital lives more productive, secure and enjoyable.
The award trophy will be presented at the 2026 Embedded Vision Summit May 11-13 in Santa Clara, CA. The awards program is organized by the Edge AI and Vision Alliance. The Edge AI and Vision Product of the Year Awards celebrate the innovation and achievement of the industry’s leading companies that are enabling and developing products incorporating edge AI and computer vision technologies.
