SparkFun will be closed on Tuesday, November 5th to support our team in being able to go out and vote! Orders placed after 2 pm MT Monday, November 4th will ship on Wednesday, November 6th. Thanks for your patience and understanding.
The SparkFun JetBot AI Kit is a robot platform powered by the Jetson Nano Developer Kit V3 by NVIDIA. This SparkFun kit is based on the open-source NVIDIA JetBot! We understand that not everyone has access to multiple 3D printers and a whole warehouse of electronics so we wanted to build a kit from ready to assemble parts to get you up and running as quickly as possible. The SparkFun JetBot AI Kit V3.0 is a great launchpad for creating entirely new AI projects for makers, students and enthusiasts who are interested in learning AI and building fun applications. It’s straightforward to set up and use and is compatible with many popular accessories.
Several interactive tutorials show you how to harness the power of AI to teach the SparkFun JetBot to follow objects, avoid collisions and more. The Jetson Nano Developer Kit offers useful tools like the Jetson GPIO Python library, and is compatible with common sensors and peripherals; including some new python compatibility with the SparkFun Qwiic ecosystem.
Additionally, the included image is delivered with the advanced functionality of JetBot ROS (Robot Operating System) and AWS RoboMaker Ready with AWS IoT Greengrass already installed. SparkFun’s JetBot AI Kit is the only kit currently on the market ready to move beyond the standard JetBot examples and into the world of connected and intelligent robotics.
This kit includes everything you need to get started with JetBot minus a Phillips head screwdriver and an Ubuntu desktop GUI. If you need these, check out the includes tabs for some suggestions from our catalog. Please be aware that the ability to run multiple neural networks in parallel may only be possible with a full 5V-4A power supply.
Items not Included but you will need:
This skill concerns mechanical and robotics knowledge. You may need to know how mechanical parts interact, how motors work, or how to use motor drivers and controllers.
Skill Level: Competent - You may need an understanding of servo motors and how to drive them. Additionally, you may need some fundamental understanding of motor controllers.
See all skill levels
Whether it's for assembling a kit, hacking an enclosure, or creating your own parts; the DIY skill is all about knowing how to use tools and the techniques associated with them.
Skill Level: Competent - You might need to break out the power tools. Nothing beyond a power drill or rotary tool should be required, but you might have a hard time with just a screwdriver and hammer. Cutting holes into plastic or metal might be required.
See all skill levels
If a board needs code or communicates somehow, you're going to need to know how to program or interface with it. The programming skill is all about communication and code.
Skill Level: Experienced - You will require a firm understanding of programming, the programming toolchain, and may have to make decisions on programming software or language. You may need to decipher a proprietary or specialized communication protocol. A logic analyzer might be necessary.
See all skill levels
If it requires power, you need to know how much, what all the pins do, and how to hook it up. You may need to reference datasheets, schematics, and know the ins and outs of electronics.
Skill Level: Rookie - You may be required to know a bit more about the component, such as orientation, or how to hook it up, in addition to power requirements. You will need to understand polarized components.
See all skill levels
We welcome your comments and suggestions below. However, if you are looking for solutions to technical questions please see our Technical Assistance page.
Based on 7 ratings:
2 of 2 found this helpful:
I like the kit, and it was fun to put together. One major thing that needs updating is the documentation. If you want to do the basics, it's very straightforward. If you want to make it extensible, you need to know what you're doing and troubleshoot. I was able to do so, but I have an engineering degree lol. With better documentation of what is included in the Sparkfun image for the Nano, the barrier for entry would be decreased significantly.
2 of 2 found this helpful:
Bought this for Christmas and Jetson nano doesn’t boot. Made for a disappointing Christmas. It is useless hardware at this point. I’m trying to get tech support through forum but it has been less than helpful thus far.
0 of 1 found this helpful:
This shouldn't be for sale anymore. The software project is dead. I cannot train a pytorch model on my dev machine and run on the jetbot because I cannot get matching versions of pytorch running on both. Support is nonexistent because the project is dead.
mechanically everything's going together welll, and it works well out of the box!
however the software update directions are a bit out-dated. After following the Jetbot wiki Docker installation, since I flashed the updated Jetpack 4.5, I had to down-grade the Sparkfun Qwiic-py version to 1.1.6, and also had to uninstall the "jetbot" python package and re-build it from the jetbot repo online (which has the updated Sparkfun dependencies), using "python3 setup.py install" - this last command was not mentioned in the Jetbot wiki Docker installation instructions.
After that though, everything is working great :)
Bought this kit a little over a year ago with the intention of going through Nvidia’s certification program, but life intruded and I just now got my chance to assemble it. Sadly it has not gone smoothly. In order of discovery:
I seem to have been missing some screws. Some of the screws I did have are not suitably sized for their intended purpose. The SD image that was delivered wouldn’t boot and a fresh image downloaded from Sparkfun and written to the card is incomplete; still trying to figure out how to get the system to boot without being attached to a monitor. The OLED module and one of the included motors are non-functional. The assembly instructions are both disorganized and seemingly incomplete. I don’t mind fiddling with hardware or software, but this build experience was really not as described.
It's a great introduction to machine learning.
The assembly instructions were impossible to follow, and it did not appear that the right screws and hardware were provided. And the software did not work either, as the simplest demo failed with a message about the 'serial' module being missing.
Sorry to hear that you are running into issues with your Jetbot. If you contact us at Support@SparkFun.com we can look into the issue and assist you with the product and get you the correct hardware.