Edge AI box powers up with Jetson AGX Xavier
Sep 18, 2020 — by Eric Brown 760 viewsNeousys’ compact “NRU-120S” edge AI box runs on a Jetson AGX Xavier and provides 4x screw-lockable PoE+ GbE, 2x hot-swap SATA trays, 3x USB, 2x DP, isolated CAN and DIO, and M.2 and mini-PCIe slots.
Neousys has introduced a variety of Intel-based edge AI systems with PCIe slots that support Nvidia graphics cards, such as the Coffee Lake based Nuvo-7166GC. Now it has announced a rugged NRU-120S AI box that taps Nvidia’s high-end, Linux-powered Jetson AGX Xavier module. The rugged, fanless system supports intelligent video analytics, NVR, and other deep-learning vision applications in industrial inspection, smart agriculture, and automated warehouse operations.


NRU-120S, front and back
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The NRU-120S is the company’s first Nvidia Jetson based product, but not its first system based on processors from Arm, which Nvidia plans to acquire for $40 billion. The company offers some low-power Arm IoT gateways such as the TI AM3352 based IGT-33V and IGT-34C, which recently received verification for Microsoft Azure IoT.
At 230 x 173 x 66mm, the fanless system is smaller than most Neousys computers. The NRU-120S “consumes only 30W while offering equivalent GPU performances to a mainstream 120W GPU,” says the company.
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The Jetson AGX Xavier features 8x 2.26GHz ARMv8.2 cores and a high-end, 512-core, 1.37GHz Nvidia Volta GPU with 64 tensor cores that support up to 22-TOPS INT8 neural processing performance. The module also provides multiple coprocessors including a 7-way VLIW vision chip plus 32GB LPDDR4 RAM and 32GB eMMC 5.1.
No OS support was listed, but the Jetson modules run an Ubuntu 18.04 distribution along with Nvidia’s JetPack 4.4 SDK to unlock the GPU’s CUDA libraries for AI applications. Other AGX Xavier based embedded systems include Advantech’s MIC-730AI, Aaeon’s Boxer-8240AI, and Adlink’s robotics-focused ROScube-X.
The NRU-120S features 4x 802.3at-compliant, 25.5W PoE+ ports built on Intel I350 GbE controllers for powering GigE cameras. For storage, the system supplies 2x hot-swappable 2.5-inch HDD trays and an M.2 M-key 2280 (PCIe Gen3 x2) socket that supports SSDs including NVMe modules. A mini-PCIe slot supports WiFi or 4G with the help of an internal SIM socket.

NRU-120S detail view
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The NRU-120S is further equipped with 2x DisplayPorts for up to 3840 x 2160 at 60Hz resolution, as well as 3x USB 3.1 Gen1 and single RS-232 and isolated CAN 2.0 ports. DIO includes 4x isolated digital outputs, 3x isolated digital inputs, and a GPS PPS input “for cross-platform synchronization.”
The 2.7 kg, wall-mountable system runs on an 8-35V terminal block DC input with optional adapters. The computer runs at -25 to 70°C in 30W TDP mode and also at higher TDPs if you buy the optional fan kit. Without the fan, the higher modes are limited to -25 to 50°C.
Other ruggedization features include 10%~90%, non-condensing humidity tolerance, MIL-STD-810G, Method 514.6, Category 4 vibration resistance, and MIL-STD-810G, Method 516.6, Procedure I, Table 516.6-II shock resistance. There are also EMC certifications.
Further information
No pricing or availability information was provided for the “coming soon” NRU-120S. More information may be found in Neousys’ announcement and product page.
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