New Raspberry Pi formfactor
Compute Module on the left, Model B on the right. They do the same basic thing in different ways. (Source: Raspberry Pi Foundation)
For anyone interested who missed the announcement, the Raspberry Pi foundation has announced their new ‘Compute Module’. It’s a full Raspberry Pi in a formfactor very similar to a laptop memory card. All of the interfaces and power and everything is access via pins and it’s designed for people wanting logic in custom PCBs without the full size/bulk of the original RaspPi. The article says they’re targeting a $30per at 100 units which should scale up to a final individual price comparable to the Model-B.
There appears to be more IO exposed and it has 4GB of bootable flash built in to further reduce size.
The Raspberry Pi increasingly appears to be a disruptive technology because of the sheer scale of production and low cost/well supported computing.
So fellow Eugene Maker Space folks, if you’ve got ideas for projects or products that would benefit from real computing power and not being tethered to a full sized computer, this may be worth investigating. Cheap real computing + accessible IO and a healthy software ecosystem can be exciting for the type of innovation where hobby, imagination, and technology intersect.
