Being a design engineer for close to 30 years now - doing mostly embedded systems - I don't really see the appeal to this approach. So - they (R-Pi) are saying the module is $30 in qty 100. A Pi is $35 - a little more if you want an SD card. The BBB is $45. So a compute module based on the BBB might be $35-40 based on the price difference, I don't know.
Let me get this straight, your paying just about as much just for the processor and memory as you can get a complete system. But you say, I want to develop my own. OK - you've just paid someone else to do the processor side - you still have to have a connector to make that connection to your processor. Then you get to design and build your specific I/O card. That, I'm sure, will be easier but at what cost. What's going to be more reliable in the long run, a system with or without that connector? If you've got to do the design anyway, why not save the money and keep it in your pocket. >From my experience, the people who benefit the most from the compute module/ SOM approach are for those who know they need a long time system life and also know that they will need to upgrade the processor and memory capabilities down the road. Of course you also need to be willing to accept what processor and memory choices they've made - who knows maybe they will have different options for different memory sizes and speeds. The most common place I've seen this approach in the past was with VME and Multibus systems. These are expensive systems to begin with. So it makes sense to be able to upgrade a portion of the system at a lower cost. The only other option for this being a benefit is if someone already has an I/O card that meets your requirements. Then it's off to the races. How much is that I/O module? I didn't see a price, hum. Bet the two combined are more than $35-$45. Also, is the compute module / SOM done to a standard so that you can replace it with another down the road - even a different architecture? I have done the cost analysis many times and most embedded systems do not need the ability to upgrade the processor and memory down the road. They usually have a specific purpose and once designed to that will function that way for the life of the product. I understand that doing the processor and memory design on an embedded system can be tough, challenging even, but Gerald and Co have already done the lion's share of the work - leverage that effort. I do small runs on my projects all the time. In fact my current project is an industrial temp spin on the BBB. Not 100% compatible, but that's the point. I'm priced out, for components and pcb, at less than $80 - I couldn't justify spending $30-$40 for the processor and memory and still have to do the rest. Additional costs - NRE for stencils and production programming is estimated at $500. Not sure what assembly/test costs will be yet, but I expect ~$20-30 hopefully less. Yes, I'm just about to do my prototype on the board - so I'll soon get to see what the actual costs are. So cost each for the 1st batch of 100 will be ~$110. Not too shabby for an I-temp board in that quantity. Future runs will be less without the NRE costs and hopefully larger build quantities. Of course there are engineering costs to be absorbed too, but that's an exercise for the accounting people to figure out what budget that belongs to. So, yes the compute modules / SOMs are cool ideas and have their place - but they are not that cost effective for most. So do your homework and see if that approach will work for you and what you need. I suspect that the PI community will not see the compute module as widely bought / accepted as the base R-PI. I do suspect the the R-PI and the BBB will see strong sales as a base platform at those price points. Good luck in all your endeavors. On Wednesday, June 4, 2014 7:17:20 AM UTC-5, Gerald wrote: > > We are not interested in getting into the module business as a BeagleBoard > branded device. Feel free to do it yourself however. All the information is > there. Some people have already made these modules and are out there in the > market in various forms.. > > Gerald > > > > On Tue, Jun 3, 2014 at 8:00 PM, <[email protected] <javascript:>> wrote: > >> I think the Raspberry idea of a compute module is a brilliant one. Now >> they will be able to sell, not just to individuals but also to industry. >> They will probably reach 5 mill. boards produced before the end of the year. >> >> Why not do the same with Beaglebone. The profit margins could probably >> be higher then on the Beaglebone Black and each extra $ could help get rid >> of the terrible shortage of Beaglebone Black boards - that never seams to >> go away. >> >> Accept that the Beaglebone Black is a huge success and that you probably >> have to produce at last 50.000 boards a month to cope with the huge demand. >> In the long run we'll all probably get tired of waiting for boards, and >> eventually be forced to turn our attention to something else. >> >> /Bo >> >> -- >> For more options, visit http://beagleboard.org/discuss >> --- >> You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups >> "BeagleBoard" group. >> To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an >> email to [email protected] <javascript:>. >> For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. >> > > -- For more options, visit http://beagleboard.org/discuss --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "BeagleBoard" group. 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