Jetson Nano

Jetson Nano. © Nvidia.

Nvidia has launched a new, single-board nano-computer dedicated to artificial-intelligence applications for an affordable 99 USD. The Jetson Nano is a very powerful computer (472 gigaflops) that allows you to run multiple neural networks in parallel for applications such as image classification, object detection, speech processing, etc. All this in an easy-to-use and energy-efficient platform: only 5 watts. On the hardware side, a quad-core ARM A57 CPU, a 128-core NVIDIA Maxwell GPU, 4 GB LPDDR4 memory and 16 GB eMMC storage. On the software side, you need to install the JetPack SDK with a MicroSD card (not included), which includes a fully usable desktop version of Ubuntu. The card is equipped with a gigabit Ethernet port, but does not have wireless communication capabilities. For Wi-Fi, you can connect an adapter such as the Edimax AC450 through a USB slot.

To use the Jetson Nano, you will need a USB keyboard and mouse, an HDMI or DisplayPort monitor, a micro-USB power supply (5V, 2A), and a 16 GB (or more) MicroSD UHS-1 card to host the image of the operating system. The JetPack SDK offers several useful tools like the Jetson GPIO Python library. Many AI frameworks such as TensorFlow, PyTorch, Caffe and MXNet are supported. The Jetson Nano is compatible with many of the sensors and peripherals out there, including Adafruit and Raspberry Pi.

⇨ Nvidia Developper, “Jetson Nano Developer Kit.”

⇨ Hackaday, “Hands-on: New Nvidia Jetson Nano is more power in a smaller form factor.”