DJI Unveils Manifold, An Embedded Computer Running Ubuntu Linux

The Manifold is a high-performance embedded computer specially designed for the DJI Onboard SDK. It enables developers to transform aerial platforms into truly intelligent flying robots that can perform complex computing tasks and advanced image processing literally on the fly.

With the NVIDIA Tegra K1's 4-Plus-1 Quad-core ARM Cortex-A15 Processor and 192 GPU CUDA cores with clock speeds of up to 2.2 GHz, the Manifold allows you to take off with the world's most advanced mobile processors. The GPU cores provide powerful image processing abilities, efficient parallel computing, and a blazing fast throughput of 326 GFLOPS. Now you can design more intelligent applications that unlock the full potential of your aerial platforms in whole new ways.

192 Cuda Cores - 2.2 GHz - 326 GFLOPS



The Manifold packs the processing power of a PC graphics card and supports DirectX and OpenGL, enabling your aerial platform to process high resolution images in real time. It can be deployed for use in artificial intelligence applications such as computer vision and deep learning. This means your aerial platforms will not only be able to sense the surrounding environment, but also identify objects and respond in an instant.

Designed for developers, the Manifold's built-in Ubuntu operating system supports CUDA, OpenCV and ROS. It is ideal for research and development of professional applications. The Manifold can natively run the DJI Onboard SDK, access flight data and perform intelligent control and data analysis. With CUDA, the Manifold can be used to accelerate your applications to achieve unprecedented levels of performance.

The Manifold is optimized for power efficiency with a peak power consumption of approximately 15 W, or one fourth of that of a typical laptop. The Manifold's Tegra CPU uses four A15 cores for heavy computing tasks, and a single battery-saver core when performing simple calculations. The number of active cores can be dynamically adjusted to decrease power consumption, and the extra core will automatically be activated when needed.

Limited space is no longer a limit. With a size of only 11 cm x 11 cm x 2.6 cm and a weight of less than 200 g, the Manifold is optimized for DJI developer platforms and can be easily mounted to the expansion bay of the Matrice 100.

Equipped with USB, Ethernet, Mini-PCIe, HDMI, UART, SPI and I2C ports, the Manifold allows you to connect to a wide array of sensors, monitors and other peripheral devices. The Manifold also provides customized ports to connect to the Matrice 100 and process the images captured by the camera mounted to the platform.



Source (Ars Technica):
http://arstechnica.com/information-...velopers-with-new-ubuntu-computer-for-drones/

DJI:
https://developer.dji.com/en/manifold/