NVIDIA Jetson TX2 Carrier & Control Board for Industrial Robotic Vision & Measurement
This project involved the development of a high-performance embedded vision and measurement platform for an industrial robotic application. The system combines GPU-accelerated processing with real-time control, synchronised imaging, communications and thermal management within a compact embedded architecture.
Key Features:
- NVIDIA Jetson TX2: GPU-accelerated System-on-Module for embedded machine vision.
- Closed-Loop Peltier Control: Two independent thermal-control channels.
- 400-Pin Interface: High-density carrier interface for the Jetson module.
- Gigabit Ethernet & PoE: High-speed network connectivity and power integration.
- USB 2.0 & USB 3.0: High-speed peripheral connectivity.
- Dual Camera Interfaces: Trigger and status connections for synchronised imaging.
- Synchronised Illumination: Coordinated flash and image capture control.
- Thermal Feedback: K-type thermocouples and independent fan control.
- RF Synchronisation: Timing coordination with the wider measurement system.
- Power Management: Integrated distribution, sequencing and Jetson control.
- Supervisory Microcontroller: Deterministic lower-level real-time control.
High-Performance Edge Computing:
At the heart of the system is an NVIDIA Jetson TX2 System-on-Module, combining ARM processing with NVIDIA GPU acceleration in a compact embedded computing platform.
Using a Jetson module allowed computationally intensive image-processing and machine-vision functions to be performed locally within the system, while avoiding the complexity of developing a high-performance processor, GPU, memory and power architecture from component level.
This significantly reduces development effort and technical risk, helping to lower development costs and accelerate time to market.
High-Speed Communications & Connectivity:
The carrier board provides the Jetson TX2 with the high-speed communications interfaces required to integrate with the wider system, including:
- Gigabit Ethernet
- USB 2.0
- USB 3.0
- DisplayPort
- UART communications
- General-purpose digital I/O
Closed-Loop Peltier Temperature Control:
Two independent closed-loop Peltier control channels regulate the temperature of the camera and optical assemblies to a controlled setpoint. Each channel combines Peltier drive, fan control and K-type thermocouple feedback.
Maintaining a stable optical temperature helps minimise thermally induced changes in alignment and camera calibration, supporting consistent measurement accuracy.
Embedded Control & System Management:
A dedicated microcontroller handles the system’s lower-level real-time control alongside the Jetson TX2, including thermal regulation, camera triggering and status, illumination control, RF synchronisation and power-management functions.
This separates deterministic peripheral control from the higher-level machine-vision and measurement processing performed by the Jetson.
Camera & Illumination Synchronisation:
Dedicated camera trigger and status interfaces are combined with SPI-controlled illumination and independent flash triggering. This allows image capture and illumination to be precisely coordinated by the microcontroller, with RF synchronisation providing timing coordination across the wider measurement system.
Jetson TX2 Carrier Board System Block Diagram:
Power Conversion & Distribution:
The board integrates the high-efficiency power conversion, distribution and sequencing required by the Jetson TX2, microcontroller and application-specific peripherals.
Multiple regulated supply rails and switched power domains allow the computing, imaging, thermal-control and communications subsystems to be powered and managed from a single integrated electronics platform.
Integrated Vision & Measurement Platform:
The completed design combines GPU-accelerated edge computing with deterministic embedded control, synchronised imaging, Peltier temperature regulation, high-speed communications and power management on a single application-specific PCB.
The result is a highly integrated electronics platform developed specifically for a high-performance industrial vision and measurement system.
