The Kria K26 Zynq UltraScale+ XCK26 FPGA MPSoC system-on-module (SoM) and the Kria KV260 Vision AI Starter Kit are included in the AMD Xilinx Kria KR260 Robotics Starter Kit.
When compared to Nvidia Jetson AGX Xavier or Jetson Nano kits, the KR260 is reported to give roughly 5x productivity boost, up to 8x greater performance per watt, and 3.5x lower latency. Below, we'll take a closer look at the specifics.
Specifications for the Kria KR260 Robotics Starter Kit:
- SoM –
Kria K26 module with:
- MPSoC
– Xilinx Zynq Ultrascale+ custom-built XCK26 with quad-core Arm
Cortex-A53 processor up to 1.5GHz, dual-core Arm Cortex-R5F
real-time processor up to 600MHz, Mali-400 MP2 GPU up to 667MHz, 4Kp60
VPU, 26.6Mb On-Chip SRAM, 256K logic cells, 1,248 DSP slices, 144 Block
RAM blocks, 64 UltraRAM blocks
- System
Memory – 4GB 64-bit DDR4 (non-ECC)
- Storage
– 512 Mbit QSPI flash (primary boot)
- Storage
– MicroSD/SDHC card (secondary boot)
- Video
- Output
– 1x DisplayPort 1.2a up to 1920 x 1080 at 60Hz
- Input
– 1x SLVS-EC (Scalable
Low-Voltage Signaling with Embedded Clock) Gen2 x2 lane interface for
Sony image sensors
- Networking
- 4x
Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 ports
- 1x
SFP+ connector supporting 10GigE
- USB –
4x USB 3.0/2.0 interfaces
- Expansions
- 4x
12-pin Pmod interfaces
- 40-pin
Raspberry Pi HAT header with 26 I/Os
- Security
– Zynq UltraScale+ MPSoC hardware root of trust (RoT) in support of Secure
Boot. Infineon TPM2.0 in support of Measured Boot.
- Power
Supply – 12V/3A via DC jack
- Dimensions
– 140 x 119 x 36mm
- Thermal
cooling solution – Active (Fan + Heatsink)
Through cooperation with Open Robotics to evaluate and assure conformance of the ROS 2 implementation for the robotics community, the Kria KR260 supports Canonical's Ubuntu 22.04 Desktop (22.04) and ROS 2 Humble Hawksbill. The kit also includes the Vitis Unified SW Platform for FPGA application and the Kria Robotics Stack from AMD. At the very least, unlike NVIDIA Jetson devkits, you won't be limited to Ubuntu 18.04.
Let's return to AMD claims when comparing Kria KR260 to Jetson Xavier AGX/Nano utilizing the Isaac ROS SDK and examples on Github while discussing Jetson platforms:
- 5x
productivity gain against both Xavier AGX/Nano
- Development
time accounts for toolchain setup with ROS 2, cross-compilation of host
code, creation and builds of accelerator implementing two functions:
doublevadd_publisher and accelerated_doublevadd_publisher.
- Up to
8x better performance per watt and 3.5x lower latency compared to Jetson
Xavier AGX
- Rectify and Resize functions from the ROS Perception Stack accelerated on Kria and Nvidia platforms; power and performance are measured.
According to an AMD Xilinx getting started guide, accelerated applications operate on PetaLinux 2021.1, but further work is needed on Ubuntu. Ubuntu 22.04 appears, although it's presently classed as Beta on the download page, which is housed on Ubuntu.com, and Canonical also said it will be an Ubuntu certified board. On the forums, there is assistance.
The AMD Kria KR260 Robotics Starter Kit costs $349 and may be purchased directly from AMD's website, as well as via distributors like as Digikey and Excelpoint. That's all there is to it: the board, a how-to instruction, and some stickers. You'll also need a 12V/3A power supply, Ethernet wires, and, if desired, a Sony IMX547 camera module. The Kria K26 SoM and kits will be on display at the 2022 Embedded Vision Summit, May 16-19 at the Santa Clara Convention Center, with more information available in the press release.