This week, I ordered the other essential parts. This included the GPS module and a USB-C to DC barrel jack adaptor. Neither of these are technically system-critical as of right now, but ordering them together saved on shipping costs from Adafruit. I opted to wait on ordering the USB Sound Card, as the driver used for audio output should not change, and we may opt to use wireless bone conductive earphones instead of the on-ear headphones. This could be a safer alternative, as they block the least ambient noise.
Regarding the Jetson Orin Nano, I spent this week setting it up in preparation for future tasks. This included updating the board’s firmware, loading a new boot image with JetPack SDK, and setting up Ubuntu. After completing these preliminary steps, I moved on to installing the dependencies we would need for future tasks. Many of these were included in the JetPack SDK, so it took less effort than expected. I also began trying to run a few demos like Ollama on the Jetson. Ideally, this makes me more familiar with the platform, which should make later work smoother.
In terms of schedule, I am right on track. The parts should arrive in a few days, which is on schedule for me to begin testing. Next week, I plan to complete much of the testing for interfacing the hardware to the Jetson. I will focus on the camera and the IMU first, as these are our most system-critical components. I also want to begin drafting our overall mounting mechanism.