Alphabet-owned Wing plans to evaluate Nvidia’s newly announced Jetson Orin Nano 2 computer for use aboard its delivery drones. Nvidia announced the system Tuesday and said Wing will assess the hardware for real-time perception and reasoning applications in commercial beyond visual line of sight (BVLOS) drone operations.
The Jetson Orin Nano 2 provides 78 trillion operations per second of AI computing performance and includes 8GB of memory and an eight-core Arm CPU. Its maker says the system provides twice the inference performance of its previous Jetson Orin Nano Super and can consume 40% less power while delivering the same level of performance.
Wing Plans Evaluation
“Drone delivery depends on AI that can enable fast, reliable understanding of the real world,” Wing head of perception Dinuka Abeywardena said.
Wing is evaluating the computer as a possible way to make its drones more responsive and energy efficient. The companies did not provide a timeline for Wing’s evaluation or say when the computer could enter operational service.
More Processing Power Onboard
The additional computing power could allow Wing’s drones to analyze information from onboard sensors more quickly and run more capable software for interpreting their surroundings. Wing’s aircraft already automatically check their delivery areas for obstacles and can reposition before lowering an order.
Reduced electrical demand from the computer could also leave more power available for other systems, although neither Wing nor Nvidia has said the new hardware will increase aircraft range or endurance.
Wing currently uses Nvidia’s earlier Jetson Orin Nano Super and its software platform in its delivery fleet. Nvidia expects the Jetson Orin Nano 2 module and development kit to become available during the first half of 2027.
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