Skip to content

1. Setting Up Jetson

manthan99 edited this page Jul 11, 2019 · 1 revision

Setting up the Jetson Tx2

This page will consist of the step by step instructions for setting up the Jetson. On a high level, these are the major things that need to be installed on the Jetson.

  • Linux GUI
  • Jetpack 3.3 flash
  • ROS Kinetic
  • Custom Linux Kernel
  • Installing VNC server

Linux GUI

Read the following manual for the first time installation: Jetson Developer Kit

The Jetson TX2 carrier board must be cabled as follows:

  1. Serial cable plugged into the serial port on the target connected to your Linux host directly or through a serial-to-USB converter. This is required to setup serial console on the Linux host.
  2. An Ethernet cable is plugged into the on-board Ethernet port.
  3. An HDMI cable connects the carrier board to an external HDMI display.
  4. (Not included in the developer kit) To connect USB peripherals such as keyboard, mouse, and USB/ Ethernet adapter (for network connection), a USB hub must be connected to the working USB port on the system.

Run -

$ cat NVIDIA-INSTALLER/README.txt

And run the instructions that are in that file to install Ubuntu Linux. Note that TX1 comes with 14.04 LTS and TX2 comes with 16.04 LTS. There may be an additional step for TX1 if the course is using 16.04 LTS.

Flashing the Jetpack

Now that we have the GUI, we want to flash the Jetson with Nvidia’s Jetpack 3.3.

To do this, we need a host computer that is running Linux 14.04 or 16.04. The Jetpack is first downloaded onto the host computer and then transferred by micro USB cable over to the Jetson. Follow the instructions here. The jetson install guide named JetPack-3.3-Install-Guide.pdf is also included in the PDF folder if the link is not working.

Install ROS

Jetson Hacks on Github has scripts to install ROS Kinetic- Jetson Tx2

Another option is to manually install ROS by following this method given on ROS-wiki

It is advised that one should go through all the basic ROS-tutorials before starting this project. They can be found here

Custom Linux Kernel

By default, the Jetson is unable to communicate serially and thus the /dev/ttyACMx ports won't work. Thus the joystick and the Arduino are unable to communicate with the Jetson. Follow this JetsonHacks tutorial for the custom Linux kernel installation. This is the link for the video tutorial for the same.

Setting Up Wireless Hot Spot on Jetson

As you begin to test on larger tracks, you may find a need to have a direct connection to your car, so as to not have to rely on the car being within a certain distance of your router. The solution here is to set up wireless hot spot on the Jetson. It is extremely easy.

Go to System Settings on your Jetson. Then Network.

On the bottom center of the pop-up window for the network, click on “Use as Hotspot...” You will no longer have internet connection because your wireless antennas will now be used as a hot spot rather than to connect to the previous Wi-Fi connection that you were on.

Note that if you plan on using the wireless hotspot feature often, you will want it to boot up on startup. To do this, open up Network Connections, under Wi-Fi select Hotspot and Edit.

Under General click on “Automatically connect to this network when available”.

On your phone, tablet, or laptop you can now connect directly to this Hotspot, and you can use it with VNC viewer as well if you have set up a VNC server. The default IP address for Hotspot on the Jetson is 10.42.0.1.

Setting Up VNC Server on Jetson

Follow this tutorial for setting up the VNC server on Jetson. You will have to install VNC_viewer on the desktop to control the jetson. In addition to this, configure the following settings also-

  1. On Ubuntu search (using the icon at the very top) for Desktop Sharing and click on it.
  2. In Desktop sharing, Select following options :
    a) Allow other users to view your desktop
    b) Allow other users to control your desktop
    c) Require the user to enter this password (specify a password)