Today, NVIDIA unveiled their latest Developer Kit based on the Jetson Orin 8GB module designed for Robotic and Smart Vision applications. This new development kit delivers up to 40 TOPs of AI performance and it can be preordered for $489.00.

According to the product announcement, the new Dev Kit is only available with the Jetson Orin 8GB module variant.

Jetson Orin Nano — 6-core Arm Cortex-A78AE v8.2 64-bit CPU 1.5 MB L2 + 4 MB L3; NVIDIA Ampere architecture with 1024 NVIDIA CUDA Cores and 32 Tensor Cores; Video Encode 1080p30; Video Decode up to 11x 1080p30 (H.265)

Carrier Board Block System (left) and Performance Comparison
(click images to enlarge)

NVIDIA states that the new Jetson Orin Nano Developer Kit is capable of running any kind of modern AI models including transformer and advanced robotics models. It also provides 5.4x the CUDA compute, 6.6x the CPU performance, and 50x the performance per watt compared to the Jetson Nano.

       
Jetson Orin Nano Developer Kit board layout
(click images to enlarge)

The M.2 Key E slot supports Wi-Fi/Bluetooth, USB 2.0, UART, I2C and I2C (optional). One of the M.2 Key slots (J24) supports PCIe (x2) Gen4 while the other (J11) supports PCIe (x4) Gen4. Both M.2 Key M slots include support for NVMe storage.

Jetson Orin Nano Developer Kit announcement

This carrier board supports PoE (Power-over-Ethernet). The datasheet indicates, “to use this alternate PoE power mechanism, the design will require a power converter to take the high-voltage PoE supply (38V – 60V) and convert it to the 5V – 20V input the carrier board requires.”

   
40-pin expansion header (left) and PoE header (right)
(click images to enlarge)

The 40-pin expansion connector includes interfaces for I2S, audio clock, 2x I2C, 2x SPI, UART and GPIOs. Additionally, the signals on the expansion header use 3.3V logic.

The carrier board provides various system signals (i.e., power, reset, and force recovery), UART, and Sleep/Wake LED-related signals using the button header J14.

   
Jetson Orin Nano Developer Kit bottom view (left) and top view (right)
(click images to enlarge)

The Jetson Orin Nano Developer Kit is compatible with NVIDIA Isaac ROS DP which optimizes ROS 2 nodes processing pipelines. Refer to the Jetson Download Center for technical documentation, reference design files and software.

Specification listed for the Jetson Orin Nano Developer Kit:

• Memory/Storage:
  • 8 GB 128-bit LPDDR5 (68 GB/s)
  • 1x MicroSD card slot (UHS-1)
• Display:
  • 1x DisplayPort (DP 1.2 (+MST) and eDP 1.4)
• Camera:
  • 2x MIPI CSI-2 I (2.5 Gbps per pair)
• Expansion:
  • 2x M.2 Key M
  • 1x M.2 Key E
• I/O Interfaces:
  • 40-pin expansion header
  • 12-pin button header
  • CAN BUS header (optional)
  • PoE Header (optional)
• LAN:
  • 1x RJ45 LAN port
• USB:
  • 4x USB 3.2 Gen2
  • 1x USB Type-C for UFP
• Other Features:
  • Status LEDs
  • 4-pin fan header
  • RTC back-up connector (optional)
• Power:
  • 9-20V DC (via Power Jack)
  • 7W – 15W
• Operating Temperature:
  • 0⁰C to 35⁰C
• Mechanical:
  • 100mm x 79mm x 21mm

Further information

The Jetson Orin Nano Developer Kit can be preordered for $499.00 from distributors such as SparkFun and SeeedStudio. The distributor OKDO will also have them available for ~£547.50.