Choosing your first development kit

Robotics & Edge Computing Jetson & Embedded Systems Jetson Nano
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Hi

I want to create a small project and for that I am looking for the right development kit.

My project will include a simple NLP model that will identify certain words, a microphone so the user can speak those words to the device, and finally some memory to save some needed data.

Given the project that I described, what development kit and peripheral components do you recommend me to buy?

Thank you in advance

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While you read this check out this listing of software releases versus hardware:
https://developer.nvidia.com/embedded/jetson-linux-archive
(note that L4T is just what one names Ubuntu after it has the NVIDIA drivers added to it; a newer L4T is a newer Ubuntu)

Something that is important to understand is that sometimes the right product is not always about performance. If you purchase a given Jetson model which is older, then you will find that only older versions of some important software will work with it. For example, an older product might be able to use only CUDA 10, whereas a newer Orin can use CUDA 12. This extends to other GPU-based software as well.

Most people train AI on a desktop PC, and then execute the model on the Jetson. You don’t need as much power to run a model as you do to train it. I think much of what you want to do could technically be run on the lowest of Jetson variants, but probably, to use newer versions of this, you would want at least the Orin.

Keep in mind that NVIDIA’s release cycle says there is probably something newer than Orin coming out soon, but it would cost more. The least expensive (and lowest performance) of the various releases are the “Nano” variants. To not be confused by this:

  • Orin generation has the Orin Nano. It also has AGX Orin.
  • Xavier generation has the Xavier Nano. It also has AGX Xavier.
  • All Nano dev kits use an SD card for storage; similar for NX I think. AGX models have eMMC. This is true in all generations.
  • Prior generations are TX2 and TX1.
  • From TX2 and newer there is also NX.
  • Separately sold modules are “commercial” and even the Nano and NX have eMMC if sold as a separate commercial module. The compatibility URL above is for dev kits.
  • Nano of each generation is always the least expensive. I personally think even older generations can probably do what you want, but you might end up with a lot of frustration if not starting with Orin.

I am not personally a fan of SD cards. The model is cheaper to start with, but then you have to add the SD card. The smaller form Nano and NX (they have the same footprint; NX has more performance) though are really really nice when weight and size is an issue. Anything AGX weighs significantly more due to heat sink. Any AGX though is “smoking fast”.

1 Like
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So if I understand you correctly
You recommend the Orin nano because of user experience?

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It is more than user experience, but user experience with release versions any Orin would be a better choice. There are a lot of older Jetsons that would be useful, but they are more limited simply because of software versions not being as recent. Orin has a huge performance increase over any previous generate too though. I think older devices can work with voice software as well, but Orin can do this with more recent software.

I have no idea when it will be out, but NVIDIA’s hardware release cycle says there has to be something in the works right now as well. When it comes out it would use the most recent L4T R36.x, but soon there would also be a newer generation (perhaps R38.x, don’t know). Orin may not be able to use that, but it is possible that next gen could be on Orin as well (Orin’s boot setup with UEFI has a huge advantage to porting new releases to it in R36.x that it could perhaps do new tricks).

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