Software setup
Loading of the operating system for the NVIDIA Jetson and complete ROS stack configuration, validated on the vehicle before it is dispatched.
Technical reference
RoboRacer Core Kit Specifications
Compute, perception, actuation, power and software for the RoboRacer Core Kit — the assembled 1:10-scale autonomous racing platform from Ambimat Electronics.
Platform
Vehicle and chassis
| Class | 1:10-scale autonomous racing vehicle, RoboRacer / F1TENTH specification |
|---|---|
| Chassis | Traxxas Slash VXL 4x4 — four-wheel drive, independent suspension, oil-filled shocks |
| Drive system | Traxxas Velineon brushless motor, driven under field-oriented control by the VESC |
| Steering | Ackermann steering through the chassis servo, commanded over the VESC servo output |
| Equipment deck | Laser-cut MDF base plate carrying compute, LiDAR and power hardware |
| Traction battery | 3S lithium-polymer pack, 11.1 V nominal, supplied with a balance charger |
On exact variants. Component families are fixed by the platform specification, but specific
model and revision numbers depend on what is current and available when your order is placed. The exact
build is confirmed on your quotation — ask the Ambimat Electronics team if a
particular sensor or compute variant is a requirement for your work.
Onboard computer
Compute — NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano Super
All perception, localisation, planning and control run on the vehicle. Nothing depends on a link back to a base station once the stack is started.
| Module | NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano Super |
|---|---|
| GPU | NVIDIA Ampere architecture, 1024 CUDA cores and 32 third-generation tensor cores |
| CPU | 6-core Arm® Cortex®-A78AE v8.2 64-bit CPU 1.5MB L2 + 4MB L3 |
| Memory | 8GB 128-bit LPDDR5 102 GB/s |
| Storage | Supports SD card slot and external NVMe |
| AI performance | Up to 67 sparse INT8 TOPS, accessible through CUDA, cuDNN and TensorRT |
| Supply | 19 V, taken from the AE170 power distribution unit's 19 V rail |
| Interfaces used | Gigabit Ethernet to the LiDAR, USB to the VESC, Wi-Fi for SSH and remote visualisation |
Sensing
Perception — Hokuyo 2D LiDAR
| Sensor | Hokuyo 2D scanning laser range finder (UST-10LX class) |
|---|---|
| Field of view | 270°, planar, mounted forward on the equipment deck |
| Scan rate | 40 Hz |
| Interface | Ethernet, addressed over the vehicle's onboard network |
| Supply | 12 V from the AE170 power distribution unit |
| ROS 2 interface |
Publishes sensor_msgs/LaserScan, consumed directly by SLAM, particle-filter
localisation, gap-following and wall-following nodes
|
| Additional sensing | Inertial measurement unit integrated into the VESC 6 MkIV; spare 12 V and 5 V rails are available for a depth camera such as an Intel RealSense, or a separate IMU |
Motion
Actuation — VESC 6 MkIV
| Controller | VESC 6 MkIV (Trampa Boards), open-source BLDC controller |
|---|---|
| Control mode | Field-oriented control (FOC), with duty-cycle, current, speed and position modes available |
| Steering | Servo output driven from the controller, so steering and throttle share one command path |
| Feedback | Wheel odometry from motor electrical revolutions, plus the controller's integrated IMU |
| Interfaces | USB to the Jetson; CAN and UART available for expansion |
| Configuration | Motor detection and limits are set during pre-delivery validation; the VESC Tool desktop application can be used to re-tune them |
| Supply | Directly from the 3S traction pack, separate from the regulated electronics rails |
Electrical
Power distribution — Ambimat AE170 PDU
Designed by Ambimat Electronics for autonomous racing systems and released as open hardware. Version V02.04 is the revision documented here and shipped with the kit.
| Rail | Maximum current | Typical load on the kit |
|---|---|---|
| 19 V DC | 3 A | NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano Super |
| 12 V DC | 2 A | Hokuyo LiDAR, plus spare capacity for added sensors |
| 5 V DC | 1 A | Low-power accessories, hubs and logic |
Connectors
The board takes power on the input side and fans it out across seven regulated outputs. Currents in the table above are the totals across all outputs on a rail taken together, not per connector.
- J9
- Battery connector / socket — input side.
- J10
- DC power jack for a wall adapter — input side. J10 also accepts input from a battery connector with no other change to the board.
- J1, J2, J5, J6
- 12 V DC outputs.
- J3, J4
- 5 V DC outputs.
- J7
- 19 V DC output.
Switches
- SW1
- Source selection — VJACK (wall adapter) or VBAT (battery powered).
- SW2
- Power on and off. With SW2 off, the position of SW1 is immaterial to the circuit — useful when the vehicle is being worked on with a bench supply connected.
The full switching scenarios, connector pin detail and mechanical outline are in the
ROBORACER Power Board User Manual, and the schematic, Gerber, DXF
and bill-of-materials files are published as open source on the same page.
Stack
Software and interfaces
| Operating system | Ubuntu 22.04 LTS with NVIDIA JetPack (Linux for Tegra kernel, CUDA, cuDNN, TensorRT) |
|---|---|
| Middleware | ROS 2 Humble Hawksbill, with DDS transport |
| Client libraries | rclpy (Python) and rclcpp (C++) |
| Build and tooling | colcon, ros2 launch, ros2 bag, RViz2 |
| Drivers configured | LiDAR scan publisher, VESC driver with odometry and drive-command topics, vehicle transform tree |
| Compatible open-source stacks |
Packages published under the f1tenth GitHub organisation, including the
f1tenth_gym simulator; SLAM packages such as slam_toolbox and Cartographer
|
| Remote access | SSH over Wi-Fi or Ethernet; a laptop on the same network joins the ROS 2 graph for visualisation |
| GPU workloads | PyTorch, TensorRT and OpenCV pipelines run onboard for learned perception and policies |
Priced option
Software Setup / Technical Support
Included in the INR 628,000 + GST option; INR 580,000 + GST is the same complete Core Kit without it. It is not included in the US$5,639 international price.
Technical support
Remote hardware and software technical support for up to 60 days post delivery, to assist with deployment and setup.