Aaeon’s rugged “Boxer-8253AI” edge AI system runs Linux on a Jetson Xavier NX and supplies HDMI in and out, 3x GbE (2x with PoE), 4x USB, SATA, mini-PCIe, M.2, SIM, and CAN.

Aaeon has added to its growing subfamily of Boxer edge AI systems that run Nvidia’s Jetson Xavier NX. The $1,266 Boxer-8253AI is Aaeon’s most feature-rich Xavier NX Boxer model yet, offering HDMI input and output ports and 3x GbE ports, two of which provide Power-over-Ethernet. Applications include NVR surveillance systems, security checkpoint X-ray scanners, and medical devices.

Boxer-8253AI, front and back
(click images to enlarge)

The 180.0 x 136 .0 x 61.1mm Boxer-8253AI is larger than the 88 x 75 x 39mm, single GbE Boxer-8251AI and Boxer-8221AI and it is larger and pricier than the $1,116, 175.8 x 100 x 39mm Boxer-8250AI. The latter has 5x GbE ports but lacks the PoE technology of the new Boxer-8253AI.

Like all these systems, the Boxer-8253AI runs Aaeon’s Ubuntu 18.04 based ACLinux 4.9 on the Xavier NX module, which has 6x ARMv8.2 Carmel CPU cores and a 384-core Volta GPU. The Xavier NX can run at a low of 10W, delivering 14 TOPS neural processing power, which rises to 21 TOPS at 15W. The NX ships with 8GB LPDDR4 and 16GB eMMC.

(In the Boxer-8251AI and Boxer-8221AI story, we noted an upcoming Boxer-8240AI system that runs on the higher-end Jetson AGX Xavier. The Boxer-8240AI, which offers 4x PoE ports, has since gained a product page and shopping page, where it sells for $2,583.)

Two of the three GbE ports offer 802.3at or 802.3af PoE PSE for up to 60W or 45W total power, depending on different citations. (We will go with the 60W, 802.3at specs listed in the datasheet.) Additional video can be input via the HDMI 1.4 input port. No resolution as listed for the input or the HDMI 2.0 output port.

The Boxer-8253AI supplies additional camera input options via 4x USB 3.2 Gen1 ports, according to the datasheet, or the faster, up to 10Gbps 4x USB 3.2 Gen2 per the announcement and product page. There is also a micro-USB port for OS flash. The two other external ports are a 13-channel DIO DB15 port and a DB9 port that combines RS-232/485 and CANBus signals.

The system ships with a 2.5-inch SATA III bay and offers mSATA support on the full-size mini-PCIe slot. The slot also supports PCIe and USB and is accompanied by a SIM card socket. An M.2 E-key 2230 slot can load a WiFi/BT module, and there are 4x antenna openings.

Boxer-8253AI detail views
(click images to enlarge)

The Boxer-8253AI is further equipped with a microSD slot, power and recovery buttons, and a power LED. The wall-mountable, 1.3 kg device is powered via a 12~24VDC terminal block with optional 120W adapter and regional power cords.

Ruggedization features include a -15 to 55°C operating range with 0.5 m/s airflow. There are also 3.5Grms anti-vibration and 50G peak acceleration anti-shock protections — so long as you are not using an HDD.

 
Further information

The Boxer-8253AI is available for $1,266.00 on Aaeon’s E-shop, which currently lists it as out of stock. More information may be found in the announcement and product page.