Setting up ZED X on AGX Orin / Xavier Developer Kits

This tutorial will help you set up and use the ZED X or ZED X Mini cameras with the NVIDIA® Jetson AGX Orin and AGX Xavier Developer Kits.

Prerequisites #

Make sure that you have the following items before starting this guide:

If you encounter any issues during the installation process, please refer to the troubleshooting page or contact support@stereolabs.com.

Setting up the hardware #

To ensure reliable, high-bandwidth, and low-latency video processing, the ZED X camera requires specific hardware to be installed. While this hardware is included with the ZED Box Orin NX, it is not included with NVIDIA® Developer Kits.

Those who already own a Jetson device and wish to use the ZED X can use the GMSL2 Capture Card for ZED X, provided by Stereolabs, which allows to connect the camera to the device.

Install the GMSL2 Capture Card #

Please make sure the DevKit is powered off and not connected to a power source before installing the capture card.

Plug in the capture card in the ‘Camera connector’ slot and secure it using the 3 provided screws, as shown in the following diagrams:

Note: The capture card is powered by the Dev Kit, therefore you do not need to use an additional power supply for the card.

The final setup should look as such:

Connect the camera #

Connect the GMSL2 Fakra cable female end to your ZED X. When you hear a click, the cable is securely connected to the camera.

With the DevKit still powered off, connect the male end of the cable to the capture card’s GMSL2 input. Again, a click informs you that the cable is secured.

AGX Orin Developer Kit Enclosure #

If you are using an Orin AGX Developer Kit, we recommend you use the Enclosure for the AGX Orin Developer Kit available for purchase on the Stereolabs store, to securely integrate our GMSL2 Capture Card while keeping the electronics safe. It also allows you to mount the Dev Kit on any surface using VESA 75x75, and gives the possibility to add WiFi antennas to boost your AGX Orin wireless transmissions.



Installing the AGX Orin Enclosure

Remove the 4 screws under the AGX Orin, and remove the factory enclosure.

With the capture card already installed (as shown above) on the Dev Kit, place the enclosure and screw it in as shown below:



Now that the Developer Kit has been correctly set up, we can install the associated software and drivers for the ZED X.

Setting up the software #

Install the ZED SDK #

After setting up your Jetson device, please follow this guide to Install the ZED SDK on NVIDIA® Jetson.

Install the ZED X driver #

The ZED X requires installing a driver to operate correctly. It is responsible for configuring the GMSL2 device and is dependent on the hardware used, such as the Jetson carrier board, the deserializer card, and other configurations related to GMSL2 cameras.

The drivers can can be downloaded from the ZED X Driver download page.

Note: Please make sure to check the version of the driver available on the ZED X Driver download page. If the website features an updated version, we recommend installing the latest one.

Select the driver corresponding to your configuration and run:

sudo dpkg -i stereolabs-zedx_X.X.X-YYYYYYYY-L4TZZ.Z_arm64.deb

Where:

  • X.X.X is the driver version
  • YYYYYYY is the deserializer
  • L4TZZ.Z is the Jetson Linux version

For example, for L4T 35.1 (JetPack 5.0) with the Stereolabs GMSL2 Capture Card, run:

sudo dpkg -i stereolabs-zedx_0.5.1-MAX96712-L4T35.1_arm64.deb

Note: You might need to install libqt5core5a if not already installed. Use the following command:

sudo apt install libqt5core5a

Now, reboot the NVIDIA® Jetson.

You can use the following command to check that the driver is correctly loaded:

sudo dmesg | grep zedx

Please note that GMSL2 cameras have lower flexibility compared to USB cameras. Any modification in the hardware configuration, such as plugging or unplugging a camera, or changing the camera order, requires either rebooting the Jetson, or restarting the installed daemon with the following command:

sudo systemctl restart zed_x_daemon
Updating the driver

If you want to upgrade the driver from a version older than v0.5.x it is required to uninstall the previously installed version:

sudo dpkg -r stereolabs-zedx_X.X.X-YYYYYYYY-L4TZZ.Z_arm64.deb

to retrieve the correct name of the package to remove you can use the command

sudo dpkg -l | grep stereolabs-zedx

Run ZED Depth Viewer #

Now that the ZED X is connected to your device and all the software has been successfully installed, run ZED_Depth_Viewer in order to validate the ZED X is functioning properly.

ZED Depth Viewer displays the depth map and 3D point cloud of your ZED camera. Try different Depth Modes to select the depth quality/performance ratio that suits you best.

ZED Depth Viewer is located in the following folder on Jetson: /usr/local/zed/tools/.

Developing with ZED X on a PC #

Using the ZED X during development can be challenging as it is only compatible with NVIDIA® Jetson devices. Nevertheless, the ZED SDK Streaming function enables developers to use the ZED X on their local PC as if it were connected directly to the computer. To set up this capability, follow the guide below to stream ZED X data to your computer.



🎉 Congratulations! You have successfully set up your Stereolabs ZED X camera and started exploring its features. Now that you have the camera up and running, it is time to start experimenting and building your projects.

Whether you are using the camera for robotics, computer vision, or something else entirely, the ZED X camera is a powerful tool that can help you achieve your goals. Happy coding!