Step 1: The Single Board Computer (SBC) - Hamidreza-Alai/Vision-Based-Vehicle-Tracking-System GitHub Wiki

A) Introduction

This page deals with "deciding about the single board computer" for the vision-based vehicle tracking system project. Important factors are:

  1. OS: The factor of possible Operating Systems (OS) to be installed on the computer is very important. Preferably, it is desired to install a Linux operating system such as Ubuntu or Debian.

  2. CPU: A powerful CPU is preferred.

  3. RAM

  4. USB Ports: The more, the better. Preferably USB 3.0 ports.

  5. Price

  6. Power

  7. GPU: Usually they are all low (good for GUI only).

B) Options

Now let's take a look at some available options:

Computer Name OS CPU RAM USB Ports Price Power GPU Thoughts
Raspberry Pi 3 Model B+ Ubuntu Server, Ubuntu Core, Ubuntu MATE, Raspbian, ... Quad-core Cortex-A53 1.4GHz 64-bit 1 GB 4 USB 2.0 Ports $ 35 5V/2.5A VideoCore IV OS should be Ubuntu MATE or Raspbian (Not good as original Ubuntu). RAM is low for our purpose.
Raspberry Pi 4 Model B Ubuntu Desktop, Raspbian, ... Quad-core Cortex-A72 1.5GHz 64-bit 2 GB, 4 GB, and 8 GB 2 USB 2.0 Ports, 2 USB 3.0 Ports $ 45, $ 55, and $ 75 5V/3A VideoCore VI High RAM should be purchased. Good Option.
Jetson Nano Developer Kit Linux4Tegra (based on Ubuntu 18.04), Maybe Ubuntu 20.04 Quad-core ARM A57 1.43GHz 64-bit 4 GB 4 USB 3.0 Ports $ 100 10 W 128-core NVIDIA Maxwell Good option
BeagleBone Black Angstrom, Ubuntu, Debian Single-core Cortex-A8 1GHz 32-bit 512MB DDR3, 4GB 8-bit eMMC mini-AB USB 2.0 client port, Type-A USB 2.0 host port $ 50 5V/2A PowerVR SGX530 Old Tech/Not enough ports/Low CPU
BeagleBone AI Android, Linux, RTOS Dual-core Cortex-A15 + 2 Dual Arm Cortex-M4 1.5 GHz 32-bit 1GB RAM, 16GB eMMC USB type-C for power, USB type-A host $ 140 5V/2.5A Dual-core PowerVR SGX544 3D Not enough USB ports
BeagleV Fedora, Maybe Debian and Linux RISC-V U74 Dual core 1.0GHz 8GB LPDDR4 4 USB 3.0 Ports $ 150 5V/3A --- Best BeagleBoard option.
Google Coral Dev Board Mendel Linux quad Cortex-A53, Cortex-M4F 4GB Type-C OTG Type-A 3.0 host Micro-B serial console $ 170 5V/2-3A Integrated GC7000 Lite A good option but limited to TensorFlow Lite
Asus Tinker Board 2 Debian 9, Android 10 Dual 2.0 GHz Cortex-A72, Quad 1.5 GHz Cortex-A53 Dual-CH LPDDR4 4GB 3 USB 3.2 Type-A, 1 USB 3.2 Type-C $ 180 15V/3A Arm Mali-T860 Powerful System! Professional

C) Diving Deeper

The best options out of the aforementioned ones are:

  1. Raspberry Pi 4 Model B

  2. Jetson Nano Developer Kit

  3. BeagleV

  4. Google Coral Dev Board

  5. Asus Tinker Board 2

There are several deeper important factors to be considered.

Here, several links are provided about these SBCs.

Jetson Nano having two parallel video decoders: Jetson Nano Specifications

Camera Developer (ArduCam) for RPi and Jetson: Jetson Cameras, Auto Focus Camera, Upcoming Camera, High Resolution