HummingBoard CBi Is An Industrial SBC With CAN And RS-485 Port

SolidRun has launched a new single board computer named as HummingBoard CBi. HummingBoard CBi merges the powerful HummingBoard platform with the CAN bus and RS-485 connectors – tailor-made for industrial and production floor applications. They actually swapped the HDMI of their Hummingboard Edge SBC with CAN and serial port to design this new industrial variation. This board runs Linux on an i.MX6 MicroSOM just like the Hummingboard Edge.

The sandwich-style board, which ships with a regular enclosure, has the same 102 x 69mm footprint of the Edge and the HummingBoard-Gate and ships with open schematics. In their website, they represented this industrial SBC as a powerful carrier board for a range of interchangeable i.MX6 based SOMs, developed for the demanding industrial automation market to offer robust features for the smart production floor of tomorrow. CAN bus (Controller Area Network) is a standard connector originally developed for the automotive industry. It offers a rugged connectivity option for designing a physical network in a harsh environment and has been used in a variety of sectors for a range of applications from vehicle engines to aviation, medical, smart building, or even robotics.

The HummingBoard CBi SBC/mini-PC runs Linux on the same NXP i.MX6 equipped MicroSOM modules with dual-or quad-core 1.2GHz Cortex-A9 cores. (A single-core Solo model is listed in the specs, but not yet available.) Debian, Yocto Project, BuildRoot, and OpenWrt stacks are available with a Linux 4.4x kernel, and Android support is in the works. It offers up to 2GB memory, USB 2.0 ports, Mini PCIe, M.2 and even a SIM card slot, all on a compact (102mm X 69mm) ARM-based and energy efficient industrial single board computer. Other features include the usual bandwidth-limited GbE port, 4x USB 2.0 ports, 8GB eMMC, and a microSD slot. Although it’s not listed on the product page, the shopping page says the board provides a WiFi/Bluetooth module.

The key specifications are:

• Processor (via MicroSOM i.MX6): NXP i.MX6 (2x or 4x Cortex-A9 cores @ up to 1.2GHz)
• Memory/Storage:
  • 1GB (Dual) or 2GB (Quad) DDR3 RAM (via MicroSOM i.MX6)
  • 8GB eMMC (via MicroSOM i.MX6)
  • MicroSD slot
  • M.2 2242 slot with storage support
• Wireless: WiFi/Bluetooth module
• Networking: Gigabit Ethernet port (limited to 470Mbps bandwidth)
• Media I/O:
  • MIPI-DSI
  • LVDS
  • MIPI-CSI-2
• Other I/O:
  • 4x USB 2.0 ports
  • RS485 port (terminal connector)
  • CAN bus port (terminal connector)
• Expansion:
  • Mini-PCIe slot with SIM card holder
  • M.2 2242 slot (see memory/storage above)
• Other features:
  • Reset button
  • configurable push button
  • IR receiver
  • RTC
  • 3x LEDs
  • metal enclosure
• Power: 7-36V input jack
• Operating temperature: -40 to 85°C
• Dimensions: 102 x 69mm
• Operating system: Linux 4.4x (Debian, Yocto Project, BuildRoot), OpenWrt; Android coming soon

The HummingBoard CBi is available with 8-week shipping time for $189 (dual-core with 1GB RAM) or $255 (quad-core with 2GB). More information may be found on the HummingBoard CBi product, developer, and shopping pages.

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