The ARMedOne is a carrier board in E-ATX form-factor that can handle popular SO-DIMM computer modules like the Raspberry Pi CM3/CM4, Jetson Nano/Xavier/TX2 NX, NXP iMX8, etc. The product is expected to be released around mid-December 2022 on Kickstarter.

The ARMedOne is a PC/Server mainboard capable of housing up to 28 computer modules from Raspberry Pi, NVIDIA or any other as long as it’s SO-DIMM compatible (3.3V, 5V or 12V). The mainboard is featured in a E-ATX form-factor (~305 × 330mm) so it’s expected to fit in most E-ATX PC cases or even in Rack-server to deliver high-computing performance within constrained dimensions. 

ARMedOne block diagram
(click image to enlarge)

Some of the I/Os offered include one HDMI port, three USB-A ports, one USB-C port, LEDs, fan connectors and one MicroSD card reader for each computer module. There is only one RJ45 for networking, but the board includes an integrated switch to handle all the computer modules.  

         
ARMedOne front (left) and back (right)
(click images to enlarge)

The company also specified, “The Master-Port has all I/O routed out to the ATX I/O Area of the board.” This motherboard is also powered by a single ATX PSU.

Furthermore, all the computer module slots are hot-plug capable, so they can be switched on the fly. The computer modules can also be mixed (i.e. Jetson board with Raspberry Pi boards, Xavier NX with Jetson board, etc).

         
Compatible boards (left) and example use cases (right) (click images to enlarge)

Software and documentation is still a work in progress, but it will be available in the company’s GitHub located here. Use cases for this board are similar to the TuringPi 2 released earlier this year, i.e. servers, homelabs, edge computing, machine learning, etc. 

The ARMedOne is being developed by a company called ARES Blockchain GmbH based in Duisburg, Germany.

ARMedOne preliminary peripherals
(click image to enlarge)

Preliminary specifications listed for the ARMedONE include: 

• Storage:
  • 28x MicroSD card slots for each CM
• Connectivity:
  • 1x  RJ45 LAN port (1Gbit network externally / 3Gbit internally)
• Display:
  • 1x HDMI port
• USB:
  • 3x USB-A
  • 1x USB Type-C
• Expansion:
  • 1x PCIe slot
• Other Features:
  • 28x Fan connectors
  • Compatible popular E-ATX tower cases
  • Status LEDs
• Power:
  • 1x 24-pin ATX
  • 1x Power switch
  • 4x 8-pin ATX (PCIe power)
  • Hot Swap controller w/ OV & UV protection
  • eFuse

 Further information

According to a representative from ARES Blockchain Gmb, the ARMedONE clusterboard will be launched around mid-December on Kickstarter.com. Some of the preliminary pledges depend on the shipping date. For example, the “Early adopter” pledge costs ~€1,499.00 and it gets you 1x ARMedOne board shipping around July 2023. 

The “Kickstarter edition” pledge costs ~€1,699.00; the pledge includes 1x board, but it ships around August 2023. 

The third batch will cost ~€1,825.00 and it will ship around September 2023. The retail price is expected to be ~€1,999.00 after the campaign ends. 

The company will also offer adapter cards for CM3 to SODIMM for €16.00 and CM4 to SODIMM adapters for €13.00

Additional questions regarding the product can be sent to [email protected] 

(Update): The Kickstarter campaign can be found using this link.