waveshareJetBot AI Kit Accessories Add-ons for Jetson Nano to Build JetBot (Doesn't Support Nano 2GB)

I have used both this and the Sparkfun version of the JetBot. This is a fantastic robot. The sparkfun is nowhere near the same quality. The waveshare has great mechanical quality, good WiFi, and the cameras are fairly robust. The system comes with software to get started either in ROS or Jupyter Notebook. Has used it for introductory robotics courses and this is a really nice platform. Important to note that you need to buy three 18650 batteries to power the robot.

Overall, this kit is a really nice value and included everything other than the batteries to create a JetBot with the Jetson Nano. Most of the components were high quality, though the wheels aren't as stable as I'd like. It was easy to put together, and it was really nice that it didn't require any soldering. It was a really fun project, and there are a lot of things you can do with it. The documentation is pretty good. The software that's mostly provided by NVIDIA is much better now than when I first used it -- the Jetpack 4.3 version is so much more stable than it used to be.Couple issues & pointers, though:- My camera had pink/red color distortion, which was pretty annoying. Apparently some of the sensors have this issue. There is a correction file you can get to fix this, and it makes a night/day difference. Search NVIDIA Devtalk for "pink distortion" for the file.- The fan for the heatsink was nice, and I wasn't expecting it in the kit, though there wasn't any documentation for it. The pins you need to plug the connector into are the ones right behind the Ethernet port.- There wasn't a lot of documentation on the 18650 batteries. Ideally you'll want flat tops that aren't protected (since there's also already overcharge/etc. protection built into the module). FWIW, I used Samsung 25R batteries with it, and they last for hours. I'm not sure what the total life is, since I didn't run them to dead, but they last a long time.

The Jetbot platform is several years old at this point, but it's still good for a beginner (with guidance of course). It's nice that this kit includes everything you need except for the Nvidia Jetson Nano (which we already had). I like that it has everything integrated, including a lithium battery holder and charger. As great as it is, we may try going with an ESP32-CAM module on the next robot. They can stream to a PC, where you have more computing power to do things like SLAM (Simultaneous Location And Mapping). Even the newest jetson boards can't keep up with a desktop 3090 or 4090.

This product kit as delivered to me has been problematic at best.When I open the kit and looked at the instructions to verify all the pieces I noticed that the screws, bolts and standoff were completely different than what was in the instructions. I would have returned it the next day but I have a work shop with an abundance of m2, m2.5 and m3 screws, bolts and standoffs.The batteries are not included and the description on amazon states that. The assembly instructions say to use 18650 li-ion batteries but the 18650 batteries don't fit naturally in the battery pack. It seems that an excessive amount of force is needed to get the batteries into the the battery pack. More force than I have been willing to apply at the moment.

So the online instructions is mostly good. Nice clear images on how to put the kit together. Nice build quality over the plastic ones i'v seen and the lowest price that i've seen for a Jetbot. Has a built in battery charger for the batteries. And a very nice touch is that they added battery voltage meter on the display using their Jetbot image. Why didn't Nvidia think of that?But some things need to be update.1. They don't provide screws for the wheels and even the instructions don't show you need to screw them to the motor shaft. The wheels are only pressed fitted so i have one wheel that keeps falling off! Really?2. The plastic screws to hold the camera to the bracket don't bite into the threads so i have two screws that keep turning (as if the threads were stripped down) in place so they are not really holding the camera down on the bracket. Luckily two screws have enough grip.3. They provide a fan for the heat sink which is great. The bad thing is that they don't say anything about the fan in the instructions. Though it wasn't difficult to figure out where the 3 pin plug connect to, it would have been nice to confirm where it did plug into.4. There is no way to get customer support from Waveshare through Amazon.I really would like to give this product 5 stars. Everything that i mentioned that was wrong can be dealt with but having the wheel keep falling off while it's moving around makes this product useless. I'm not sure if i should return this or go out of my way to find some screws at some hobby shop.

The media could not be loaded. I got this Jetbot for my 7-year-old son. Although all the AI part is quite complicated for him, the Jetbot amazed him being able to run by itself. The installation process is quite straight forward. I would hope they put an assembly print in the box so that I don't have to google it around. Other than that, I could assemble it correctly. It will also be nice to have an iOS app to go with the Jetbot too. BTW, the fan is actually necessary, which it should be mentioned in the manual.

The right wheel rotates backwards from what it is suppose to. In the Basic Motion, if it is programmed to go forward, the right wheel rotates backwards as an example. Not a big deal if there was any support available. Posted on the Nvidia site and got no answer.

it is easy to build and very resistant. The documentation needs a little more work, but it is enough to get you started.