Top AI Robotics Development Boards and Kits

AI Processing Power: The Computational Brains

When developing AI and robotics systems, it's an absolute must to utilize products that contain enough processing power to effectively support your system’s requirements. And the more complicated the system, the more high-processing power is required. These top development boards and kits are intended to be the central brain for complex robotics and AI systems.

NVIDIA Jetson

We have written extensively about the NVIDIA Jetson product family, mostly because the applications that this powerful product family can support are far more extensive and influential. All Jetson products are intended to run AI neural networks and other parallel processing applications, in what NVIDIA refers to as “AI on the edge”. The main principle of “AI at the edge,” is that machine learning algorithms can be trained using traditional servers that can support complex back-propagation, and similarly difficult computations. Then, they can be deployed on small, compact, and highly efficient products that do not have the computing power of a traditional AI compute system. The Jetson product family is a lasting embodiment of “AI at the edge,” and was developed with the full intention of making remote AI system development both easy and practical.

NVIDIA Jetson products have been deployed in an array of different environments where edge computing is utilized, but they have been especially impressive when deployed in robotics and autonomous machines. For example, the Jetson Nano Developer Kit is specifically designed for entry-level autonomous machine development. Jetson’s machine-perception applications can achieve superhuman environmental understanding and speeds that were unimaginable before the turn of the century. NVIDIA Jetson can also be utilized for object detection, object tracking, environment navigation, and can control IO points for robotics systems sensing control. They are highly suitable to be the brains of AI robotics systems.

Arrow Development Tools AI_ML Board

Arrow Development Tools AI_ML Board, is a 96boards-based development Single Board Computer, which is very well suited for AI and complex robotics applications. Like other tools in the Jetson product family, it is similarly intended to be a developer’s go-to tool for deploying and developing AI and machine learning applications.

Built around the powerful NXP i.MX 8X SoC, the AI_ML Board incorporates a quad-core 64-bit Arm-A35, and a dedicated GPU and VPU. This powerhouse of a development board is designed specifically for industrial and automotive application development. There are a host of peripherals that are already included on the board, such as temperature sensors, a quad-array microphone system, a WiFi-Bluetooth combo module, and a wide assortment of peripheral connectors. The AI_ML board also boasts high-speed and low-speed expansion headers that can be used with 96boards compliant mezzanine cards. This makes it quickly expandable for a variety of custom applications.

Sensors and Actuators in AI: The Controlling/Sensing Braun

A computer is relatively useless without a keyboard and mouse. When it comes to AI robotics, the best AI and controls algorithm is just as useless without sensors and actuators to execute the programming. Below, you'll find some of our favorite development kits that make prototyping and creating a proof of concept fast and easy.

Seeed Grove Starter Kit V3

Developing a robotic system requires a variety of sensors, actuators, and other motion-related components. The Seeed Grove Starter Kit v3  is an easy-to-use, modular kit that allows for quick plug-and-play implementation of a variety of robotics building blocks. Each component in this kit utilizes a standard 4 pin connector, making connection and assembly of your own project a breeze. This development kit relies on connection to the Grove Base Shield, an Arduino-compatible shield that enables the connection of 16 different Grove connections. Four of the Base Shield’s Grove connections enable an analog signal for sensing applications, while eight of the connections are digital, and four connections are I2C. The Grove Starter Kit may not deliver the motive performance and sensing ability of meticulously picked discrete components -- like what powers the Boston Dynamics robo-pup Spot® -- but it is capable of quickly prototyping a proof of concept design with relative ease. The Grove Starter Kit V3’s modularity and ease of use make it a versatile tool for AI robotics prototyping applications for the beginner AI robotics tinkerer.

Arrow Engineering Kit with Sparkfun Qwiic®

Sparkfun recently unveiled their Qwiic® connector series, which operates on the same principle as Seeed Grove collection, and created the exclusive Arrow Engineering Kit with Sparkfun Qwiic kit. Sparkfun’s Qwiic family is intended to be easily connected to a main hub (HAT or Shield). It also allows the components to be connected in series to each other, making this kit distinctly versatile compared to its competitors. Another distinct advantage that the Qwiic series has over similar products, is that each independent sensor module also features two solderable breakout headers. These can help to establish a more permanent connection to other modules, or allow connection to other IOs of non-Qwiic components. Ultimately, Qwiic products maintain the modularity of similar components, but enable more advanced features that are ideal for use in AI and robotics development applications. The Arrow Engineering Kit features over a dozen robotics-oriented modules to get you developing quickly.

Conclusion

Many end-use AI and robotics applications will eventually require a discreet design of individually selected components that make the design proprietary and custom. However, the development and prototyping of nearly all AI and robotics begins with development boards and kits, like the items outlined in this article. For more information on some of our top development boards and development kits, be sure to explore Arrow.com.