Part
Onboard computer
You might say: the brain, controller
An onboard computer usually combines a microcontroller for deterministic I/O and motor work with a CPU or GPU computer for perception, planning and high-level control.
- What it does
- It runs the robot software stack and schedules data between sensors, controllers and actuators.
- Ask
- Which functions need hard real-time timing, and which need CPU, GPU or accelerator throughput?
What to look for
- Microcontroller beside CPU or GPU computer
- Deterministic I/O and motor work
- Perception, planning and high-level control running
Catalogue: Compute
- Microcontroller: A microcontroller runs deterministic I/O, power monitoring and motor-control work; Jackal uses a 32-bit MCU for these tasks. Running deterministic I/O, power monitoring and motor-control work defines it; Jackal's MCU is one example.
- CPU computer: A CPU computer runs the operating system and general application code; Jackal documents an Intel-based computer option. Running the operating system and general application code defines it; Jackal's Intel-based computer is one example.
- GPU module: A GPU module accelerates parallel perception and neural-network work for autonomous machines.
Sources
- Clearpath Robotics, Jackal User Manual, System Architecture
The communication channel between the MCU and PC is a Full Speed USB connection.
- NVIDIA, Jetson Modules, Jetson Orin NX and AI performance
It can run multiple modern neural networks in parallel and process data from multiple high-resolution sensors.
Use it on your project
teardown-apply: hold "Onboard computer" (onboard-computer) from the teardown at https://teardownatlas.com/robotics/ against my project
Paste it into a coding agent that has the teardown skills.
An AI agent wrote this map with the teardown skill. It can contain errors: check the sources before you rely on a part. About and legal