I think you missed the most important part. Most developers here are not able or do not want to deal with 6 layer boards with 3 mil trace and spacing (high tech boards). Working with 2 or 4 layer boards with 5 or 6 mil trace and space (standard tech boards) is low cost (< $40 in small prototype qty). As you pointed out, the cost to prototype and manufacture 6 layer high tech boards is expensive and requires a high level of expertise to make any modifications. As you know the cape concept doesn¹t always work because of the I/O conflict between capes but it would be easier to develop a standard tech board with all the I/O designed to work together. Also, the position of the connectors on the BBB may not be suitable for a specified enclosure so a module would provide that flexibility as well.
Just my two cents worth to add a little balance to your comments. Regards, John From: CEinTX <[email protected]> Reply-To: <[email protected]> Date: Wednesday, June 4, 2014 at 6:41 AM To: <[email protected]> Subject: Re: [beagleboard] Do as Raspberry - Make a Beaglebone Black - Compute Module !? - Why not > 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. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > 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. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
