Aerium's Lumen Aims to Loft NVIDIA's Jetson Modules Above the Clouds for On-Drone AI, ML Workloads
Compact carrier board for NVIDIA's popular computer-on-module range can also be applied to terrestrial robotics, the company says.
Avionics specialist Aerium has launched a compact carrier board for the NVIDIA Jetson family of computers-on-modules (COMs), designed for being installed on-board drones to deliver in-flight machine learning and artificial intelligence (ML and AI) capabilities: the Lumen.
"The Lumen carrier board serves as the ideal partner for unlocking the full potential of Jetson modules, offering an array of features and functionalities tailored for diverse AI and edge computing applications," claims Aerium of its creation. "The Lumen carrier board provides seamless compatibility and integration with NVIDIA Jetson modules, delivering an optimal platform for developers, researchers, and enthusiasts to harness the power of AI at the edge."
NVIDIA's ever-growing Jetson family of computers-on-modules put the company's in-house Arm-based processor cores, high-end graphics cores, and dedicated machine learning and artificial intelligence acceleration cores on a small board designed to drive everything from autonomous vehicles to advanced robotics — and when paired with a carrier like the Aerium Lumen, brought to our attention by CNX Software, drones.
Compatible with the NVIDIA Orin NX and Orin Nano, as well as the older Xavier NX and TX2 NX modules, the carrier includes an on-board five-port Ethernet switch, M.2 E- and B-key sockets for optional Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and cellular connectivity, an M.2 B-key socket for Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) storage plus a microSD Card slot, and input/output connectivity including two I@C, two SPI, and one CAN buses, two USB ports and on USB On-The-Go (OTG) port, one dedicated UART plus two serial ports that can be switched between UART/RS232 and UART/RS422/RS485 respectively, I2S, and a real-time clock. For machine vision work there are two on-board camera inputs.
While Aerium's central focus is on avionics payloads, the Lumen can also be used for "a wide range of use cases across industries," the company claims, including robotics, smart cities, and healthcare. "Its adaptability empowers innovators to create intelligent and adaptive systems," Aerium crows, "pushing the boundaries of AI innovation."
The Lumen is now available to order through the Aerium store at $225, excluding your choice of NVIDIA Jetson module; additional information is available in the company's documentation.
