[ih]

I'm just getting into robotics with a background in software and I ended up choosing the Isaac Sim platform/ecosystem (https://docs.omniverse.nvidia.com/isaacsim/latest/index.html) and Jetbot (https://jetbot.org/master/) since they seem suited for neural networks and reinforcement learning. So far getting up and running with the simulation side hasn't been too bad and there is a model for the Jetbot in Isaac Sim since it's also by Nvidia. I haven't started on the hardware side so can't speak on that. The downside for some might be it's proprietary and Jetbot itself is a bit out of date and nearing end of life support.

[m00x]

You'll be better served with a more capable platform. You can either 3d print it, or you can pick up something like the WaveRover from Waveshare. It's a solid metal frame with geared motors and differential drive. For ~$100 you won't get much better.

You just need to pop in 3x18650 batteries in the chassis and connect a Jetson nano to the UART pins. It has an ESP32 inside, so you can also program that, but it comes programmed out of the box.

You can control it with this python library https://github.com/msanterre/wave_rover_serial

Isaac SIM is a terrific simulator, you won't get much better.

[ih]

Cool, thanks for the advice!