NVIDIA Corp. today expanded its Jetson AI at the Edge platform with an entry-level developer kit priced at just $59. The company said Jetson Nano 2GB makes artificial intelligence and robotics available to a new generation of students, educators, and hobbyists.

The Jetson Nano 2GB Developer Kit is designed to enable people to learn about AI by creating hands-on projects in areas such as robotics and the Internet of Things (IoT). Santa Clara, Calif.-based NVIDIA also announced the availability of free online training and AI certification programs, which will supplement the many open-source projects, how-tos, and videos contributed by thousands of developers in its Jetson community.

“While today’s students and engineers are programming computers, in the near future they’ll be interacting with, and imparting AI, to robots,” stated Deepu Talla, vice president and general manager of edge computing at NVIDIA. “The new Jetson Nano is the ultimate starter AI computer that allows hands-on learning and experimentation at an incredibly affordable price.”

Kit joins Jetson AI at the Edge platform

The Jetson Nano 2GB Developer Kit is the latest offering in NVIDIA’s Jetson AI at the Edge platform, which ranges from entry-level AI devices to advanced platforms for fully autonomous machines.

Jetson Nano 2GB is supported by the JetPack software development kit (SDK), which comes with NVIDIA container runtime and a full Linux software development environment. The company said this allows developers to package their applications for Jetson with all its dependencies into a single container that is designed to work in any deployment.

The SDK is powered by the same CUDA-X accelerated computing stack used to create breakthrough AI products in self-driving cars, industrial IoT, healthcare, smart cities, and more, according to NVIDIA. The company was a 2020 RBR50 innovation award winner.

“NVIDIA’s Jetson is driving the biggest revolution in industrial AIoT,” said Jim McGregor, principal analyst at Tarias Research. “With the new Jetson Nano 2GB, NVIDIA opens up AI learning and development to a broader audience, using the same software stack as its data center AI computing platform.”

In addition, with the performance and capability to run a diverse set of AI models and frameworks, the Jetson Nano 2GB Developer Kit provides a scalable platform for learning and creating AI applications as they evolve, said NVIDIA.

“At Booz Allen, we seek to empower people to change the world,” said Drew Farris, director of analytics and AI research at Booz Allen Hamilton. “We’re using NVIDIA Jetson to train new technical resources as AI becomes critical for enterprises and personnel leveraging AI to solve the most difficult global challenges.”

Jetson Nano 2GB gets ecosystem support

NVIDIA said its Jetson Nano 2GB Developer Kit has received strong endorsements from organizations, enterprises, educators and partners in the embedded computing ecosystem.

“Acquiring new technical skills with a hands-on approach to AI learning becomes critical as AIoT drives the demand for interconnected devices and increasingly complex industrial applications,” said Matthew Tarascio, vice president of AI at Lockheed Martin. “We’ve used the NVIDIA Jetson platform as part of our ongoing efforts to train and prepare our global workforce for the AI revolution.”

“The Duckietown educational platform provides a hands-on, scaled down, accessible version of real-world autonomous systems,” said Emilio Frazzoli, professor of dynamic systems and control at ETH Zurich. “Integrating NVIDIA’s Jetson Nano power in Duckietown enables unprecedented, affordable access to state-of-the-art compute solutions for learning autonomy.”

“We know how important it is to provide all students with opportunities to impact the future of technology,” said Christine Nguyen, STEM curriculum director at Boys & Girls Club of Western Pennsylvania. “We’re excited to utilize the NVIDIA Jetson AI Specialist certification materials with our students as they work toward becoming leaders in the fields of AI and robotics.”

The Jetson Nano 2GB Developer Kit will be available at the end of the month for $59 through NVIDIA’s distribution channels.