Chipmaking giant Nvidia has expanded its Jetson AI at the Edge platform with an entry-level developer kit priced at $59, opening the potential of AI and robotics to a new generation of students, educators and hobbyists.
The Jetson Nano 2GB Developer Kit is designed for teaching and learning AI by creating hands-on projects in such areas as robotics and intelligent IoT.
To support the effort, Nvidia also announced the availability of free online training and AI-certification programs, which will supplement the many open-source projects, how-tos and videos contributed by thousands of developers in the vibrant Jetson community.
“While today’s students and engineers are programming computers, in the near future they’ll be interacting with, and imparting AI to, robots,” said Deepu Talla, vice president and general manager of Edge Computing at Nvidia.
“The new Jetson Nano is the ultimate starter AI computer that allows hands-on learning and experimentation at an incredibly affordable price.”
The Jetson Nano 2GB Developer Kit is supported by the Nvidia JetPack SDK, which comes with Nvidia container runtime and a full Linux software development environment.
This allows developers to package their applications for Jetson with all its dependencies into a single container that is designed to work in any deployment.
And it is powered by the same Nvidia Cuda-X accelerated computing stack used to create breakthrough AI products in such fields as self-driving cars, industrial IoT, healthcare, smart cities and more.
Additionally, with the performance and capability to run a diverse set of AI models and frameworks, the Jetson Nano 2GB Developer Kit provides a scalable platform for learning and creating AI applications as they evolve.
The Jetson Nano 2GB Developer Kit has received strong endorsements from organizations, enterprises, educators and partners in the embedded computing ecosystem:
Jim McGregor, principal analyst at Tarias Research, said: “Nvidia’s Jetson is driving the biggest revolution in industrial AIoT. With the new Jetson Nano 2GB, Nvidia opens up AI learning and development to a broader audience, using the same software stack as its data center AI computing platform.”
Matthew Tarascio, vice president of Artificial Intelligence at Lockheed Martin, said: “Acquiring new technical skills with a hands-on approach to AI learning becomes critical as AIoT drives the demand for interconnected devices and increasingly complex industrial applications.
“We’ve used the Nvidia Jetson platform as part of our ongoing efforts to train and prepare our global workforce for the AI revolution.”
Emilio Frazzoli, professor of Dynamic Systems and Control at ETH Zurich, said: “The Duckietown educational platform provides a hands-on, scaled down, accessible version of real-world autonomous systems. Integrating Nvidia’s Jetson Nano power in Duckietown enables unprecedented, affordable access to state-of-the-art compute solutions for learning autonomy.”
Drew Farris, director of analytics and AI research at Booz Allen Hamilton, said: “At Booz Allen, we seek to empower people to change the world. We’re using NVIDIA Jetson to train new technical resources as AI becomes critical for enterprises and personnel leveraging AI to solve the most difficult global challenges.”
Christine Nguyen, STEM curriculum director at Boys & Girls Club of Western Pennsylvania, said: “We know how important it is to provide all students with opportunities to impact the future of technology.
“We’re excited to utilize the Nvidia Jetson AI Specialist certification materials with our students as they work toward becoming leaders in the fields of AI and robotics.”
