ZedX One Core / One for Lightweight Drone

Hardware
1

We currently have a Zed X drone that we mounted onto a Starling 2 Max drone. We are finding that the combined weight of the Zed X, Orin NX, and the increased current draw from the batteries are pushing the drone to its limit, and would like to explore options to reduce weight, without compromising on the baseline too much (Zed X Mini seems to be a poor replacement for this because of its small baseline).

We are only able to mount and power an Orin NX with the current drone frame and have a payload capacity of <500g

  1. Would the Zed X One S OR Core be a good replacement? They seem to be marketed towards humanoids, I was wondering if anyone has had success mounting and calibrating these on drones.

  2. Would the Zed X One Core work with the Orin NX? The official listing suggests it only works with Orin AGX and Thor.

Thank you.

2

Hi silhengt,

Thanks for reaching out and providing your usecase details.

On your first question, the ZED X One S can be mounted on a drone, but it is a monocular camera, so it does not provide depth, positional tracking, or object detection on its own.

If a stereo camera is needed, a good option could be to use two ZED X One S cameras mounted rigidly with the baseline of your choice. Once calibrated, the SDK treats them as a virtual stereo camera, so you can use the full set of depth and perception modules. Baselines from 25 mm upwards are supported. You can find more details in the dual-camera stereo vision documentation and the stereo rig sizing guide.

The weight saving is significant: the ZED X One S Wide weighs 37 g per camera, compared with 239 g for a ZED X. Before recommending a baseline, what depth range do you need for the drone application?

Another option is the ZED X OEM. It provides the same stereo capabilities and 120 mm baseline as the ZED X, but without the enclosure, bringing the weight down to 56 g. With this version, mounting and environmental protection would need to be handled on your side.

Regarding your second question, the ZED X One Core is not compatible with the Orin NX. It is a MIPI module rather than GMSL2, so it requires a host carrier board specifically designed to support it.

I hope this helps !

Best,

Rodolphe