Pixhawk Jetson Baseboard with Isaac ROS

Hello! I am using a Jetson Orin Nano dev kit 8GB with a CubePilot Orange +, and ROS2 Humble for communication. Sadly, the RAM of the Orin Nano is not enough to run ZED Wrapper, ISAAC ROS VSLAM, and ISAAC ROS NVBLOX with NAV2. Additionally, I must use less than 100,000 baud in order to use uXRCE-DDS with serial (TELEM2 and USB PORT).

The best option I found is the Pixhawk Jetson Baseboard, since it provides Ethernet from the Pixhawk and 16 GB of RAM. However, I couldn’t find enough information about the compatibility with all the technologies I mentioned. Any feedback or advice regarding the Baseboard would be greatly appreciated.

Other option would be to buy only the module and change it with the module of Orin Nano, so I can keep using the board.

Jetson Orin NX 16GB (p3767-0000) in Orin Nano carrier (p3768) should be flashable out of the box using SDK Manager, flash.sh from public sources and also meta-tegra (same for P3509 Xavier NX Developer Kit).
From a technical perspective, it looks like the Pixhawk Jetson Baseboard is functionally equivalent to an Orin NX Dev Kit carrier connected to a Pixhawk 6X via Ethernet. For your development needs, you have the freedom to choose the solution that is more readily available or cost-effective for you. If you have an AGX Orin Dev Kit at hand, you could also consider emulating the Jetson Orin NX 16GB Module. However, the Pixhawk baseboard offers a really nice and clean solution for deployment.
Are you using PX4 or Ardupilot on this projekt? I am looking forward to using the same packages for upcoming projects.

Hello @patrick2, thanks for all the suggestions! There are indeed various ways to approach this integration. Unfortunately, I only have the Jetson Orin Nano 8GB dev kit. Using the board from this kit might be an option, but since I am new to Nvidia products, following all the steps mentioned would be quite time-consuming.

My main concern with the Pixhawk Jetson Baseboard is ensuring all the algorithms work correctly. It would be great if someone who has already done this could share their experience!

Currently, I am using the PX4 firmware v1.14 and hoping that v1.15 becomes stable soon, as it offers interface control with ROS2. Compared to Ardupilot, PX4 provides more messages that I can use in uXRCE-DDS communication.

Hi @jim.fabian

I’m looking for other alternatives. I will keep you updated if I find another shield that can fit your setup.

Best,
Raffaello

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Hi @jim.fabian

Another alternative might be the ARK-PAB Carrier. It seems that the Holybro Jetson Baseboard is quite similar. ARK Electronics manufactures in the USA, therefore the board is a bit more expensive. The board has convinced me so far and the support from ARK Electronics is excellent. I have only worked with MAVLink so far, not with ROS 2.

Here you can find the documentation for the board, maybe that will help you further.

Regards,
Lucas