Raspberry Pi Launched Compute Module 3 For $30 But Probably Won't Fly

In 2014, the Raspberry Pi Foundation released the original Compute Module. As successor to it, Raspberry Pi Foundation launched the Compute Module 3, a slimmed-down Raspberry Pi 3. It is intended for developing customized hardware, such as TV displays, industrial control systems and home media players.

The new Compute Module contains the insides of a Raspberry Pi 3, highlighting a 64-bit Broadcom BCM2837 processor at up to 1.2GHz . It has a 1GB RAM and 4GB flash storage. A number of ports has been removed such as sockets for the Ethernet, SD card, USB, and display. It does not support Wi-Fi.

The signals for the missing ports of the Compute Module 3 can be found on an edge connector that fits into the SODIMM socket. This will allow industrial product designers to choose the ports that they want to have exposed and the functions that they want to include.

It now sports a smaller design that makes it more suitable for industrial applications such as industrial machinery, equipment, and even robots. The Compute Module 3 can deliver twice the RAM and a boost to CPU performance 10-times over the first model released in 2014.

Since it emanates from the Raspberry Pi 3, the Compute Model 3 has a price tag of $30. The Compute Module 3 is cheaper and smaller, but also much more powerful compared to the first version. Nevertheless, the Raspberry Pi Foundation is not expectant that the Compute Module 3 will immediately start flying off the shelves.

This is likely to happen because the Compute Module 3 is not designed for use at home or in school. The Compute Module 3 was created towards industrial applications in mind. Those who would like to use it would first have to design products that that will have a circuit board slot to insert the Compute Module 3 into.