Forecr MILBOX-ORNX NVIDIA Jetson Orin NX and Orin Nano Rugged Military Computers

Drones, UAVs and small ground vehicles leave little room for a computer, yet their payloads still need GPU inference close to the sensors. The Forecr MILBOX-ORNX series answers with an ultra-compact enclosure of 180.5 x 131 x 111 mm and 1.9 kg that houses an NVIDIA Jetson Orin Nano or Orin NX module. These rugged military computers are designed to meet MIL-STD-461G, MIL-STD-1275E, MIL-STD-704F, DO-160G and IP67, covering the electromagnetic, power and ingress demands of airborne and vehicle installations.

Every MILBOX-ORNX shares one carrier design. I/O comprises two Gigabit Ethernet ports, two USB 3.0 ports, two RS-232/422/485 ports, an RS-232 debug port, two CAN bus ports and one HDMI output. Storage sits on M.2 Key-M 2280 and M.2 Key-M 2230 sockets, while an M.2 Key-B socket with a SIM slot takes LTE or 5G modules and can be converted to Key-E for WiFi and Bluetooth. A camera expansion connector links the module’s CSI camera interfaces to an adapter board, with four HD-BNC coax connectors on the rear for Forecr’s optional 4x GMSL2 camera inputs, and the board also carries a 6-axis IMU and a temperature sensor. Power enters through a 9-40 VDC input with 28 VDC nominal and a military-grade filter stage, and the software base is Ubuntu 20.04 or 22.04 with JetPack 5.x or 6.x.

The range splits by Jetson module. The MILBOX-ORNX-NANO4 uses the Jetson Orin Nano 4GB, the lightest option for single-camera detection or telemetry processing. The MILBOX-ORNX-NANO8 doubles memory to 8GB on the Orin Nano for larger models and more camera streams. The MILBOX-ORNX-NX8 moves to the Jetson Orin NX 8GB, a higher compute class than the Orin Nano builds, and the MILBOX-ORNX-NX16 carries the Orin NX 16GB, the module behind the rating of up to 157 TOPS with Super Mode.

Forecr names defense, aerospace, marine, transportation, autonomous vehicles and drones as target sectors for the MILBOX-ORNX. The datasheet ambient range is -25°C to +85°C with 5% to 95% non-condensing humidity, and the wide DC input copes with the fluctuating supplies found on aircraft and vehicles. For surveillance drones, autonomous UAVs and compact ground robots, these rugged military computers bring Jetson Orin inference in a package small enough for the payload bay.