Nvidia’s Jetson Nano Is an AI Computer for the Masses

#News(IoTStack) [ via IoTForIndiaGroup ]

A new $99 single-board computer from the GPU giant is aimed at amateur programmers interested in building basic artificial intelligence algorithms.
These devices, such as the Tesla P100 and DGX-2, are found in many server farms and data centers, including Facebook data centers. They have their roots in the graphics processing units (GPUs) for which Nvidia is best known.
The new Jetson Nano has a tiny fraction of this power. Its GPU, where most of the AI processing takes place, has 128 Cuda processor cores for a total capacity of 472 gigaflops. This is peanuts compared with the DGX-2, which packs a whopping 16 separate GPUs for a total of 2 petaflops of capacity.

A Raspberry Pi Alternative
Nvidia expects some Jetson Nanos to be used as the brains of such marketable, intelligent robots, but the budget computer’s target audience is tinkerers who are experienced enough to build their own artificial intelligence code. Sometimes referred to as “makers,” they gather at “Maker Faires” worldwide to show off their inventions. Nvidia estimates that there are 30 million makers, meaning a vast potential market for Jetson Nanos.

The Jetson Nano is still powerful enough to perform one of the most basic artificial intelligence tasks: processing several streams of video simultaneously. This means it could be used as the brains of a robot tasked with both navigating a factory floor and inspecting the machinery it finds.
It can decode two streams of 4K video, eight streams of 1080p video, or 16 streams of 720p video. It also has a generous port selection, including USB 3.0, DisplayPort, HDMI, and Ethernet. All of this makes it suitable for simultaneously analyzing video feeds from multiple security cameras or sensors aboard a roving self-directed vehicle.

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