If you have built an autonomous drone with NVIDIA Jetson as the onboard compute platform, you know exactly how the hardware stack looks. A Jetson module on a carrier board handling your AI pipeline, computer vision, SLAM, object detection, whatever your mission needs. A separate flight controller running ArduPilot or PX4. A UART or USB cable connecting them over MAVLink. Two power rails. Two mounting points. Two separate boards taking up space and adding weight before you have even started on the autonomy stack itself.
This is the standard approach and it works. Builders have been doing it for years. But the overhead is real, extra weight, extra wiring, extra connectors, extra failure points, and a form factor that gets complicated fast in space-constrained airframes.
We build drones and autonomous systems at Vecros. We kept hitting this. At some point we stopped working around it and built a solution ourselves.
JETCORE FC is a single board that combines the AI processing power of a Jetson carrier board with the flight and sensor interfacing of a Cube Autopilot compatible flight controller. One PCB. One mounting footprint. 55 grams. The companion computer and the flight controller are the same board.
This post covers what it is, the full technical specifications, the design decisions behind it and integration notes specifically for ArduPilot builders. We want real feedback from this community, so please read to the end.
What Problem JETCORE FC Actually Solves
The standard autonomous drone hardware stack looks like this:
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NVIDIA Jetson module on a carrier board, running your CV pipeline, visual odometry, detection models, ROS stack, whatever your mission requires
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A separate flight controller, Cube Orange, Pixhawk, or similar, running ArduPilot or PX4
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MAVLink over UART or USB between the two
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Separate power distribution to both boards
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Physical mounting of both boards in the airframe
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Wiring between them
JETCORE FC collapses this into one board. The Jetson carrier and the Cube Autopilot compatible flight controller share a single PCB with a clean internal connection between the compute side and the flight control side. You slot in your Jetson module, connect your peripherals, and you have both onboard AI and flight control in one unit at 55 grams and 136mm × 67mm × 16mm.
The external MAVLink cable between companion computer and flight controller is gone. The second mounting point is gone. The second power input for the FC side is separate and clean. The wiring complexity drops significantly.
Technical Specifications
| Category | Details |
|---|---|
| NVIDIA Jetson Compatibility | Xavier NX, Orin Nano, Orin NX and Nano |
| Flight Controller | Compatible with Cube Autopilot — Pixhawk ecosystem |
| USB Ports | 5 × USB 2.0, 1 × USB 3.0 (FPC Type), 1 × USB 2.0 (JST GH) |
| Networking | 1 × Gigabit Ethernet (8-pin Molex connector) |
| Video Output | 1 × Micro HDMI — 1920 × 1080 FHD |
| Storage | 1 × M.2 Key M for NVMe SSD |
| PWM Outputs | 14 PWM servo outputs — 6 FMU + 8 IO channels |
| RC Inputs | PPM, Spektrum/DSM, SBus |
| CAN | 2 × CAN Bus (JST GH) |
| UART | Multiple UARTs (JST GH) |
| I2C | 2 × I2C (JST GH) |
| ADC | Voltage, current and pressure sensing |
| IMU | Integrated 6-axis IMU |
| Security | Built-in Crypto Auth IC |
| Power — Jetson Side | 12–18V DC |
| Power — FCU Side | 4–5.5V DC |
| Servo Rail | 3.3V / 5V |
| Dimensions | 136mm × 66mm × 16mm |
| Weight | 55 grams |
| Operating Temperature | – 40°C to +85°C |
| Software — Jetson Side | JetPack 4.x and 5.x LTS |
| Software — FC Side | ArduPilot, PX4, QGroundControl, Mission Planner |
Design Decisions, Why It Is Built The Way It Is
A spec sheet tells you what something is. This section tells you why it ended up that way.
Why Cube Autopilot ecosystem compatibility instead of a custom FC stack We considered designing our own flight controller carrier board from scratch. We decided against it for a straightforward reason, the Cube and Pixhawk ecosystem has years of community development, testing, documentation and trust behind it. ArduPilot builders already know how to configure parameters, run calibrations, and use QGroundControl and Mission Planner. Asking someone to learn an entirely new flight controller ecosystem alongside a new carrier board is too high an ask. JETCORE FC is designed to fit into existing ArduPilot workflows, not replace them.
Why JST GH and Molex connectors throughout JST GH is the standard across the ArduPilot and PX4 ecosystem. Almost every peripheral a builder would connect, GPS, telemetry, sensors, peripherals, already comes with JST GH cables. Molex was chosen for the Ethernet port specifically for its locking mechanism and vibration resistance. In a drone airframe under dynamic loads, connectors that can work loose mid-flight are not acceptable.
Why 14 PWM outputs — 6 FMU + 8 IO The 6 FMU + 8 IO channel split mirrors the Cube Autopilot layout exactly. If you have configured a Cube before, JETCORE FC’s PWM outputs will feel identical. Builders can run standard multirotor configurations, fixed wing setups, VTOL configurations and anything else the Cube supports, without relearning output mapping.
Why – 40°C to +85°C operating range Consumer and prosumer carrier boards are typically rated for much narrower temperature windows. We designed JETCORE FC for real deployment conditions, cold environments, desert inspection operations, industrial facilities with poor ventilation, continuous outdoor use. The industrial temperature range was a requirement from our own field deployments, not a spec added to sound impressive.
Why 55 grams as a hard target A typical Jetson carrier board plus a Cube Orange plus mounting hardware plus the wiring between them adds up fast. We treated 55 grams as a hard constraint during design. Every gram on a drone is a gram taken from payload or flight time. The single board approach is what makes this weight possible, two boards with independent structures, connectors and mounting hardware will always weigh more.
Why hardware crypto authentication The Crypto Auth IC is built in at the hardware level. For most commercial and research builds this may not be the deciding feature. For deployments in defence, critical infrastructure and sensitive industrial inspection, where data authenticity and device identity are genuine requirements, a software-level solution is not sufficient. Hardware-level crypto authentication was a requirement for the use cases we were already building for.
Why an integrated 6-axis IMU Removing the need for an external IMU simplifies the BOM, saves connector ports, reduces wiring and eliminates one more potential failure point. The integrated IMU is sufficient for most builds. Builders who need redundant IMUs or higher-grade sensors can still add external units via the existing I2C and SPI interfaces.
Why multi-generation Jetson support The Jetson lineup is evolving. Orin is replacing Xavier. Future modules will follow. JETCORE FC supports the full current Jetson generation, Xavier NX, Orin Nano, Orin NX and Nano, so builders are not forced to redesign their hardware stack every time NVIDIA releases a new SOM. The same board that runs on a Nano today will support Orin NX tomorrow.
Use Cases We Have Built or Tested For
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Autonomous inspection drones running computer vision pipelines entirely onboard, no cloud, no ground station processing required
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GPS-denied navigation platforms using visual inertial odometry on the Jetson side while ArduPilot handles flight stabilisation on the FC side
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Research platforms at university labs where a clean, compact single board integration reduces variables and simplifies the build
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Industrial and warehouse drones operating indoors where GPS is unavailable and onboard processing is required
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Defence and sensitive infrastructure inspection where hardware-level data security is a genuine requirement
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Ground robots and mobile platforms, JETCORE FC is not drone-exclusive; the FC outputs simply go unused in non-flight applications
Integration Notes for ArduPilot Builders
The FC side of JETCORE FC is fully compatible with the Cube Autopilot ecosystem. If you have configured a Cube Orange or Cube Black before, the JETCORE FC flight controller side will feel identical, same parameter structure, same calibration process, same QGroundControl and Mission Planner workflow.
Communication between the Jetson compute side and the ArduPilot FC side is handled internally over UART with MAVLink, the same protocol you would use with a companion computer in a standard dual board setup. The difference is that the connection is internal and clean rather than an external cable between two separate boards. This also eliminates one category of wiring fault that shows up in field deployments.
We recommend starting with JetPack 5.x LTS for new builds unless you have a specific dependency that requires 4.x. Both are supported and tested.
ROS and ROS2 both work on the Jetson side without issues. If you are running a ROS-based autonomy or perception stack communicating with ArduPilot via MAVROS, that setup works on JETCORE FC the same way it would on a standard Jetson carrier plus Cube combination.
If anyone has specific integration questions, parameter settings, MAVLink configuration, peripheral connections, sensor setup, post in the comments and we will answer directly in this thread. We would rather this become a useful technical resource than just a product announcement.
Where To Get It
JETCORE FC is available at store.vecros.com. For bulk orders, research lab evaluation units or technical questions before purchase, discuss.vecros.com. We are based in Bangalore, India and ship internationally.
A Question For This Community
We designed JETCORE FC around problems we kept running into in our own builds. But every builder’s requirements are different and there are things we have not got right yet or have not thought of.
If you are working on a build where collapsing the companion computer and flight controller into one board would be useful, or if you look at these specs and see something missing, something you would want changed, or something that does not make sense, post in the comments. We read every reply and take feedback seriously.
If you build something with JETCORE FC, we would genuinely love to see it.