Quick OES Note:

Thanks for choosing the Optimus Embedded Systems (OES) Prime Series 3 Jetson Nano/Xavier NX™ Carrier Board (JN/NX-C)!  Our custom carrier board fully supports the NVIDIA® Jetson Nano/Xavier NX SoM.  The extent of our support ends at the hardware level we have developed to accurately support the Jetson Nano/Xavier NX SoM.  Any software related questions/issues should be directed to the NVIDIA® Jetson Support Team.  Now let’s get to developing!

As mentioned by the NVIDIA® Team, there are two key things you should do right away to get setup:

1. Sign up for the NVIDIA® Developer Program – this enables you to ask questions and contribute on the NVIDIA® Jetson Forums, gives access to all documentation and collateral on the Jetson Download Center, and more.
2. Read this User Guide!  After that, check out these important links from NVIDIA: Jetson FAQ | Support Resources | L4T Release Notes

Thanks,

Your OES Team

The OES Prime S3 JN/NX-C supports the NVIDIA® Jetson Nano/Xavier NX SoM and is an AI computer for makers, learners, embedded systems and developers that bring the power of modern artificial intelligence to a low-power, easy to use platform.  You can get started with out of the box support for many popular peripherals, add-ons, and ready to use projects.

The Jetson Nano/Xavier NX SoM is supported by the comprehensive NVIDIA® JetPack™ SDK, and has the performance and capabilities needed to run modern AI workloads.  JetPack™ includes:

• Full desktop Linux with NVIDIA® drivers
• AI and Computer Vision libraries and APIs
• Developer tools
• Documentation and sample code

(Source – Jetson Nano/Xavier NX Developer Kit documentation)

Prime S3 JN/NX-C Setup

Before using your Prime S3 JN/NX-C, you need to setup a microSD card with the OS and JetPack™ components.  The best method is to download the microSD card image & follow instructions found HERE.

What you need:

• You need a 16GB or larger UHS-1 microSD card, HDMI monitor, USB keyboard and mouse, and 10V=4A power supply
• Download the image and write it to the microSD card
• Insert the microSD card into the slot under the Prime S3 JN/NX-C, then attach the display, keyboard, mouse, and Ethernet to USB-C adapter cable or wireless networking adapter
• Connect the power supply, and the Prime S3 JN/NX-C should power on automatically
  • For alternative methods to install JetPack, please see “How to install JetPack” on appropriate Jetson User Guide.

Included In The Box

• Prime S3 JN/NX-C
• 10V@4A Power Supply
• USB-C to Gigabit Ethernet Adapter

JETPACK

For the Summary of Jetpack Components, Developer Tools, Documentation, and details on How to Install Jetpack; reference the appropriate Jetson User Guide.

WORKING WITH L4T

For information regarding working with L4T; reference the appropriate Jetson User Guide.

Prime S3 JN/NX-C Interfaces

Prime S3 JN/NX-C Interface Details

Carrier Board

• [D1] Power LED; lights when the developer kit is powered on
• [D41] Sleep Mode LED; lights up when carrier board enters sleep mode
• [D44] System Reset LED; flashes during reset sequence
• [X2] Audio out connector
• [X19] Audio in connector
• [U15] SO-DIMM connector for Jetson Nano module
• [X12] HDMI connector
• [X1, X3, X8] Camera connector; enables use of CSI cameras. Prime Series 3 JN/NX-C works with IMX219 camera modules, including Leopard Imaging LI-IMX219-MIPI-FF-NANO camera module and Raspberry Pi Camera Module V2.
• [FAN] 2-pin fan control header
• [J2] M.2 Key E connector can be used for wireless networking cards; includes interfaces for PCIe (x1), USB 2.0, UART, I2S, and I2C.
• To reach J2 you must detach the Jetson Nano/Xavier NX module.
• [J4] DC Barrel Power Jack for 10V@4A power supply. Accepts a 2.1×5.5×9.5mm plug with positive polarity
• [J3] Battery connector. The carrier board will be supplied power through 2S Cell battery pack, which has a nominal voltage of 7.4V. Battery will be charged through DC Barrel Jack connector (J4)
• [X4 and X5] are each USB 3.0 Type C connectors. Each is limited to 1.9A total power delivery. Both connectors are connected to the module via a USB-C multiplexer built into the carrier board.
• [SW1, SW2, SW3] switch for system power, reset, and force recovery related signals (see the following diagram).
• [X6] 40-pin expansion header includes:
  • Power pins
  • Two 3.3V power pins and two 5V power pins. These are not switchable; power is always available when the developer kit is connected to power.
  • Two 5V pins can be used to power the developer kit at 3A each.

• Interface signal pins:
  • All signals use 3.3V levels.
  • By default, all interface signal pins are configured as GPIOs Pins 8 and 10, which are UART TX and RX. L4T provides a Python library, Jetson.GPIO, for controlling GPIOs. The library has the same API as RPi.GPIO. See /opt/nvidia/jetson-gpio/doc/README.txt on your Jetson system for details.

• [SERIAL] 3.3V serial port header; provides access to the UART console.

Power Guide

Prime Series 3 JN/NX-C requires a 10V power supply capable of supplying 4A current.

Power Supply Options

Out of the box, the developer kit is configured to accept power via the DC Barrel Jack connector. The critical point is that the Jetson Nano/Xavier NX module requires a minimum of 4.75V to operate.

Other Power Supply Options

Our carrier board is supplied by 2Cell battery pack which nominal voltages is 8.4V. The battery will be charged through [J4] connector. For optimal charging, battery is necessary to bring 10V@4A through [J4] connector.

Power Budget Considerations

The developer kit’s total power usage comprised of carrier board, module, and peripherals, and is determined by your particular use case.

The carrier board consumes between 0.5W (at 2A) and 1.25W (at 4A) with no peripherals attached.

The Jetson Nano/Xavier NX modules are designed to optimize power efficiency and supports two software-defined power modes. The default mode provides a 10W power budget for the modules, and the other, a 5W budget. These power modes constrain the module to near their 10W or 5W budgets by capping the GPU and CPU frequencies and the number of online CPU cores at a pre-qualified level. See the L4T Development Guide for details about power modes.

Note that the power mode budgets cover the two major power domains for the Jetson Nano/Xavier NX module: GPU (VDD_GPU) and CPU (VDD_CPU). Individual parts of the CORE (VDD_SOC) power domain, such as video encode and video decode, are not covered by these budgets. This is a reason why power modes constrain the module to near a power budget, but not to the exact power budget. Your particular use case determines the module’s actual power consumption. See the Jetson Nano/Xavier NX module Datasheets for details about how power domains are used to optimize power consumption.

Attached peripherals are the final component of the developer kit’s total power usage. Select a power supply that is capable of delivering sufficient power for your workload.

• Prime S3 JN/NX-C Datasheet