Earlier today, the Raspberry Pi Trading team announced the Compute Module 4, an embedded version of the Raspberry Pi 4. We've learned via CNX Software that Gumstix, an Altium company, has also announced a series of different carrier boards, similar in concept to the Compute Module IO Board, but with an expansive range of extra features from simple adaptors to autonomous drone flight units.
Gumstix Raspberry Pi CM4 Development Board
(Image credit: Gumstix)
More expensive than the official Compute Module IO Board ($130 vs. $35), the Gumstix Raspberry Pi CM4 Development Board is more compact but has slightly fewer features than the official carrier board. The Gumstix Raspberry Pi CM4 Development Board does come with an M.2 NVMe slot for 2280 drives. The ideal use cases for this carrier board would be for robotics or Network Attached Storage, but at $130, not including the price of the Compute Module 4, this could be an expensive NAS.
Raspberry Pi 4 Header
USB-UART Console Port
DSI connector for connecting to displays
2 x CSI2 connector for connecting a camera
HDMI 2.0 port for audio/display
Gigabit Ethernet port
USB Type-A port for expandability
M.2 (M Key) with single-lane PCIe, compatible with 2280 NVMe drives
The Gumstix Raspberry Pi CM4 Uprev is a $30 adapter board that enables the new Compute Module 4 to be used with carrier boards, and custom-designed PCBs made for earlier Compute Module boards. That's useful if you would like to give an older project a little more computing power.
A $75 version, the Gumstix Raspberry Pi CM4 UprevAI, comes with the Coral TPU that enables machine learning and AI via Google's Coral platform.
Gumstix Raspberry Pi CM4 PoE Smart Camera
(Image credit: Gumstix)
The Gumstix Raspberry Pi CM4 PoE Smart Camera will retail for $95 and uses Power over Ethernet (PoE) to power and provide connectivity for a smart camera via Google's Coral Tensor Processing Unit. Using the Compute Module 4 and an official Raspberry Pi camera, we can build an intelligent system that can identify objects and people and then take appropriate action.
Gumstix Raspberry Pi CM4 + Pixhawk FMUv6
(Image credit: Gumstix)
The $180 Gumstix Raspberry Pi CM4 + Pixhawk FMUv6 is something a little different, in that it is a Pixhawk v6 specification Flight Management Unit commonly used in drones! With an onboard STM32 and Coral TPU, we have the brains to create autonomous flying projects which can use machine learning / AI to identify objects in flight. Add the power of the Compute Module 4, and we have an incredibly powerful package for autonomous flight and robotics.
Gumstix Raspberry Pi CM3/CM4 Robo
(Image credit: Gumstix)
The $75 Gumstix Raspberry Pi CM Robo is designed for earlier Compute Module Boards, but using the Gumstix Raspberry Pi CM4 Uprev board will let you use the Compute Module 4. Using this board, we can create robotics projects via the I2C and UART interface. Also included are two camera interfaces and a touchscreen connector. Using this carrier board, we can build quite a powerful robot in a small chassis.
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Les Pounder is an associate editor at Tom's Hardware. He is a creative technologist and for seven years has created projects to educate and inspire minds both young and old. He has worked with the Raspberry Pi Foundation to write and deliver their teacher training program "Picademy".
