Guardian HAT
Custom robotics and edge-AI hardware expansion board for Jetson-class compute, integrating sensors, motor interfaces, protected power, communication buses, and field diagnostics.
Problem and Constraints
- Protected power rails
- Field-serviceable connectors
- Sensor and bus expansion
- Real-time control split
- Reset and power control
- Modular robotics integration
Layered System Architecture
Jetson Orin Nano target
Run autonomy, AI inference, perception, and high-level orchestration.
STM32-class controller concept
Handle deterministic low-level IO, safety checks, motor interfaces, and bus supervision.
IMU, GPS, ToF, ultrasonic, IR
Expose common robotics sensors through structured buses and expansion points.
CAN, UART, I2C, SPI, GPIO, pogo pin expansion
Provide modular electrical interfaces for robots and edge-AI devices.
LED indicators, reset controls, power controls
Support field debugging and fast subsystem isolation.
Tradeoffs and Consequences
| Decision | Reason | Tradeoff | Consequence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Convert development compute into a robotics controller | A Jetson alone is not a field-ready robotics control surface. | More board-level design and validation. | The compute module gains protected power, sensor integration, diagnostics, and real-time control boundaries. |
Publishable Direction
- Hardware abstraction for modular robotics.
- Edge AI and deterministic low-level control split.
- Field-serviceable robotics controller architecture.
Technical Writeup
System Position
Guardian HAT is a hardware architecture for turning Jetson-class compute into a practical robotics controller. It combines protected rails, bus expansion, sensor integration, motor interface options, diagnostics, and a real-time controller concept.