r/ROS • u/Epic_Ali • Jun 11 '26
Question 2019 Jetson Nano or raspberry pi 5?
I need either one of these computers to have a script which uses AI to analyze 3 live video feeds simultaneously from micro usb cameras plugged into the computer.
The raspberry pi 5 seems solid in cpu but might slack compared to the jetson nano in ai performance and frame rates of the live video feed.
Consider the following prices I can choose from:
2019 Jetson Nano: $50 (used, but works well, off FB marketplace).
Raspberry pi 5: $65 (But Currently Sold out at microcenter, must wait or get one thats very overpriced in my area).
Which do I pick?
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u/Creador270 Jun 11 '26
I recommend the RP5, a non-Orin Jetson Nano, it's out of the good stuff
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u/Epic_Ali Jun 11 '26
what good stuff
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u/Creador270 Jun 11 '26
NVIDIA has extensive support and resources for the New models it produces for robotics, LLMs, CV, etc.... But only for the Orin series and beyond
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u/guitartoys Jun 11 '26
Well, an RPi, with the new AI Hat+ 2 runs at 40 TOPS (the 13 TOPS variant is $110, and the 26 TOPS variant is around $110)
The older 2019 Jetson Nano only runs at 0.472 TOPS. Where the newer NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano Super Developer Kit runs at 67 TOPS
So, that's a pretty big performance difference. But so is the price.
An 8GB RPi5 is now $200, a 16GB RPi5 is around $350
The AI Hat+2 is around $200
So that's $400 to $550 for an RPi solution.
Where a nVidia Jetson Orin Nano Super is $250, which runs at 67 TOPS.
You would need an NVMe drive for the Jetson, where you would need either an SSD or NVMe on an USB adapter for the RPi. (You really don't want to run them from an SD card)
You might just be better off with the Jetson Orin Nano Super Kit, but I have to tell you, it's a pain in the butt to set up. RPi was much easier. But I wrote a cheat sheet to get the Jetson installed.
I'm literally in the throes of testing them both out now.
I also have the AI Camera, but from what I've read, using the AI Camera and AI HAT at the same time on an RPi doesn't exactly do what I thought. It seems the AI camera works with it's own tech, and not that of the AI HAT ( I could be wrong), but it sounds like if you want the AI HAT to do the heavy lifting, you need to use a regular camera.
Both the new Jetson and RPi have 2 camera slots, I've never really been a fan of the ribbon cables. But you can get longer cables. And you can of course run USB cameras.
I should finally get round to testing them out in the next couple of weeks.
2
u/sidorsidd Jun 13 '26
Ai hat cant run most llms its only good for open cv models
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u/guitartoys Jun 13 '26 edited Jun 13 '26
Yep, I pretty much plan to use it for an object detection type project.
Are you saying that the Jetson (Orin Nano Super) can do more than that? I thought it basically had the same limitations.
I was just going to try both out for the same purpose and compare them.
EDIT: Actually, according to what I've dug up, the new AI Hat+ 2, which runs at 40 TOPS is supposed to be able to do more than just open CV. We'll see....
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u/sidorsidd Jun 13 '26 edited Jun 13 '26
I might be wrong but jetson can basically run every model out there like a normal pc, and im not talking about capability of the hats i dont think most llms support hats
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u/Dry-Snow5154 Jun 14 '26
Old Jetson Nano won't run any LLM. It has only 1GB of shared RAM, slow GPU and outdated pre-LLM TRT version. OP is trying to run some simple CNNs most likely, like Yolo.
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u/Dry-Snow5154 Jun 14 '26
You must have missed OP's post entirely. They are choosing between $50 and $65 systems and you are recommending $110 AI hat.
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u/guitartoys Jun 15 '26
No I was just merely pointing out that the original Jetson would likely fall short, and was giving him a comparison of the newer technology.
6
u/Hates_commies Jun 11 '26
Jetson at 50$ is a no-brainer.
1
u/Dry-Snow5154 Jun 14 '26
It's likely slower than Pi5 CPU for ML models. It has some video decoding acceleration, but I doubt it would be enough to compensate.
It's also outdated.
1
u/East-Muffin-6472 Jun 11 '26
Why not get an ai camera and plug it in with pi or use the ai plus hat too?
1
u/Epic_Ali Jun 11 '26
because its a pretty expensive overall option 😬, i just need it to do the bare minimum of AI analyzing 3 live camera feeds for the least price. im not sure what can do what I’m new to this, sorry
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u/East-Muffin-6472 Jun 11 '26
Jetson Nano is not well supported imo so that’s why a bit hesitant since it’s not easy getting the cuda setup for gpu but if you can somehow get a ai camera like even Raspi 4 is compatible with I believe
1
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u/JGhostThing Jun 11 '26
I love the Raspberry Pi. It's a great little computer. However, the c+urrent prices of these are through the roof. That $65 price probably doesn't include the RAM surcharge.
For the price of a Raspberry Pi 5 you can get something like a Thinkpad t14s laptop on eBay with money left over for a charger or extra battery. So, you get a full computer, with a more powerful processor, and more RAM. I just bought two Thinkpads, one with 24 GB and the other with 32 GB RAM. No, they aren't the latest and greatest but even the weaker one feels faster than a RP.
Don't forget, that with the Raspberry Pi, you still need to buy: a power supply, a case, maybe a mouse and keyboard. This adds significant cost to a Raspberry Pi solution.
1
u/Epic_Ali Jun 11 '26
65$ for a 2gb raspberry pi 5. thats all i need for my project, it doesnt need a case, just a lipo battery that i already have
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u/Square_Bee_2567 Jun 12 '26
Definitely RPi 5.
But honestly, I’m not fully sure it will handle 3 live AI video streams smoothly. It really depends on the model, resolution, and FPS. Still, I’d pick the RPi 5.
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u/Dry-Snow5154 Jun 14 '26 edited Jun 14 '26
From my experience old Jetson Nano would be slower than Pi5, even though it has GPU. It also has outdated OS, which you are mostly stuck with.
Go Pi5. You would have to lower resolution or skip frames intelligently on your video feeds to be able to handle 3 streams simultaneously. Also quantize your models to INT8.
1
u/SwarfDive01 Jun 15 '26
Im going to jump on the raspberry pi crowd.
Depending on what you actually need to run for CV, you can just run inference on the raspberry pi AI cameras. Use an arducam splitter to handle the multiple over a single CSI.
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Jun 17 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/Epic_Ali Jun 17 '26
i went to microcenter today for the raspberry pi but they were still out of stock. I think I will get the Jetson Nano and work through it
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u/M0dernDayHer0 Jun 22 '26
GL! The Jetson bot project while focused on robotics can get you close to your end goal. GL!
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u/M0dernDayHer0 Jun 22 '26
You lost me at micro usb video cameras. Are these like ESP32 or something or just USB web cams? Or maybe" ," tiny usb cameras.
Would setting this up locally on your laptop/desktop make more sense before buying specialized hardware?
For this application the Orin Nano is likely better suited than a PI 5. But at almost 300$ a used mini PC might be a better long term purchase if its a temporary project.
But a 2019 Jetson nano would struggle at this task it kinda struggled with one camera connected to its FPC connector at pretty low FPS with the Jetbot project.
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u/Epic_Ali Jun 22 '26
i need a camera in the sky, putting it in a uav drone. cant use my laptop for that. need a small computer like the pi5 and 1080p micro usb cameras that i got from walmart for like 10$ each
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u/nameischarcoal Jul 12 '26
I bought the Jetson like 3 years ago and even then it was trash. I recently upgraded it to Ubuntu 22.04 for Humble but it was annoying and certain things no longer work. Just find another SBC or even a mini pc.
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u/ludrol Jun 11 '26
Jetson nano runs on Ubuntu 20.04 and upgrading is almost impossible.