Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs), like our arculees, rely on several advanced technologies. Two key components are NVIDIA’s Orin NX and Debian OS (Ubuntu), a Linux-based operating system known for its stability and flexibility. Together, the two provide prime computing power and reliability to run our robots smoothly and safely. Hassan Saeed, DevOps Engineer at arculus explains how this combination supports our arculees and why it’s the ideal setup for our development.
Better Robotics with NVIDIA’s Orin NX
The arculees, our Autonomous Mobile Robots (AMRs), improve warehouse productivity, especially through their smooth navigation and modern safety features. However, to navigate safely and efficiently, our robots must process their surroundings in real time. This includes identifying obstacles, recognising markers, and making fast decisions. This requires strong hardware capable of handling complex data on the go.
This is where NVIDIA’s Orin NX, a compact System on Chip (SoC), comes in. Hassan Saeed, our DevOps Engineer, describes it as “a powerful board with sophisticated data processing capacity, along with advanced CPU and GPU capabilities.” By rapidly computing information from the robot’s software and input devices, Orin NX improves obstacle avoidance and marker recognition, allowing arculees to navigate seamlessly. Its GPU further optimises AI-driven tasks through efficient parallel processing, making complex computations faster and more reliable.
Debian - the Classic Operating System
Debian is a free, Linux-based, open-source system known for its stability, security and flexibility. These features make it an ideal choice for robotics, where a dependable operating system adaptable to various hardware configurations is essential for smooth functioning. Hassan expands on the multiple benefits of this strong OS:
"Debian provides a strong foundation for various software applications and supports a wide range of hardware. For example, you might have used Ubuntu on your computers. It is also a derivative of Debian with a user interface (UI) similar to Windows. Yet, Debian’s popularity stems from its security and robust package management system, making it a preferred choice for many developers and enterprises."
Orin NX and Debian: a Powerful Combination
By combining Debian’s stability and flexibility with Orin NX’s real-time processing and energy efficiency, Hassan and his team created a system that ensures smooth navigation, real-time decision-making, and long-term adaptability for arculees. He delves deep into how they made the two technologies work together to achieve an optimal ecosystem at arculus:
Flexibility and Stability: Debian is a natural fit for the Orin NX hardware because it is flexible and stable. Its broad hardware support ensures smooth integration with the Orin NX, while its robust architecture makes the robot’s system more reliable.
Simplifying Updates and Adaptations: Pairing Debian with Orin NX streamlines the software update process for arculus. Integration with Debian’s package management system makes rolling out updates and security patches efficient. The regular support from Debian and NVIDIA ensures the software remains secure, up-to-date, and adaptable.
A Rich Ecosystem and Strong Community: Debian’s extensive software ecosystem and activity community provide a solid foundation for innovation. It supports various robotics applications and ensures continuous development and troubleshooting resources, which are invaluable for development cycles at arculus.
Seamless Integration for Core Functionality: Debian's strong support for robotics software aligns perfectly with Orin NX’s high-performance hardware capabilities. This integration enables arculus to deliver advanced robotics functionalities such as smooth navigation, obstacle avoidance, and precise task execution with reliability and security.
Finally, while this combination of two technologies already greatly serves the arculees, Orin NX offers various AI features that are especially relevant to robotics. Hassan and his team are actively exploring its Machine Learning (ML) aspects, such as predictive analytics, decision-making, data-driven processing, and computer vision. The aim is to utilise these features to further improve our AMRs and software.
Integration challenges and how arculus solved them
Implementing NVIDIA’s Orin NX in the arculus ecosystem meant facing specific challenges. One of the main caveats, in this case, was the hardware incompatibility. Hassan explains, “NVIDIA’s kernel is designed to work with its own hardware, so it failed to recognise arculus’ custom-built board — the Robot Control Unit (RCU).”
The RCU, also known as the arculee’s heart, has multiple peripherals and devices that control the robot’s movements. So, to fully garner the benefits of Orin NX without compromising the functionalities of the custom-built board, the team had to make some adjustments.
“We configured all the devices according to the kernel provided by NVIDIA and also tweaked its device tree to ensure that the RCU’s components were fully supported,” continues Hassan, “It took some adjustments, but in the end, we integrated Orin NX smoothly and made the system work perfectly.”
Three Cheers to arculus, Debian, and Orin NX
Choosing Debian and NVIDIA’s Orin NX for product development wasn’t just about compatibility. It was a strategic decision based on performance and practicality. Hassan Saeed, DevOps Engineer, explains what motivated the team:
“Debian’s popularity and extensive package repository made it an obvious choice for us. Its flexibility in supporting multiple programming languages, including C and Python, aligns perfectly with arculus’ software and development needs.”
At the same time, Orin NX stood out for its powerful hardware features, which are necessary for robotics. With external memory options, NVMe device integration, high CPU and RAM capacity, and advanced GPU capabilities, it provided the performance arculus needed. Hassan adds:
“Ultimately, the compatibility between Debian and Orin NX helped us optimise both software and hardware, ensuring efficiency in our operations at arculus.”
