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Intermediate build

How to build NVIDIA JetBot

2-DoF wheeled rover · Intermediate

JetBot is NVIDIA's MIT-licensed two-wheel educational robot with Jupyter tutorials for collision avoidance and road following. The Orin Nano BOM is about $629.

Start the buildProject files
Difficulty
Intermediate

Some soldering, calibration and Linux comfort needed.

Build time
2–4 weekends

Our estimate, part-time

Parts cost
$628

$628.96 total from the JetBot Orin BOM

Degrees of freedom
2

MIT

What is NVIDIA JetBot?

JetBot is NVIDIA's open educational robot: two TT motors, a camera, an OLED and a 3D-printed chassis around a Jetson developer kit.

You program it in a web browser through Jupyter notebooks, starting with basic motion and moving on to AI collision avoidance and road following.

The current BOM targets the Jetson Orin Nano 8 GB, but NVIDIA says the Orin software is still in progress. The SD images and setup guide still assume the discontinued original Jetson Nano.

NVIDIA JetBot specifications

Drive
2× TT motors
Compute
Jetson Orin Nano 8 GB
Driver
Adafruit motor driver
Support
1" caster

Figures as published by the project. See Sources below.

Bill of materials

PartQtyNotes
Jetson Orin Nano 8GB Developer Kit1$499
128 GB microSD1
TT motors2
Adafruit motor driver1
Caster ball1
Printed chassis, camera, OLED, battery—
Where's the full bill of materials?

The full BOM, with exact quantities and vendors, lives in the project's own files. Prices change often, so treat $628 as a ballpark from the project. Start at the project repository.

Tools you'll need

  • FDM printer
  • Screwdrivers
  • A browser

Step-by-step build overview

Electronics & wiring overview

The motor driver connects to the Jetson over I²C, the camera over CSI, and the OLED shows the IP address.

Battery packpower sourceLaptop / PChigh-level controlcamerasensingNVIDIA Jetsonreal-time controllerMotor driverdrivers / busMotors2 joints / motors
PowerData / commandsSensor feedbackOverview only. Follow the project's own schematic for pinouts and voltages.

Software

Python

MIT-licensed Python library and Jupyter notebooks.

Tips from the bench

  • ☕ Check the Orin status before buying, because the images target the old Nano.

NVIDIA JetBot FAQ

Does JetBot work on Orin Nano?

The BOM lists it, but upstream marks the software as a work in progress.

Sources

Written by Bots n' Beans from the project's own documentation. Check the sources for the latest revision before you buy parts.

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