Raspberry Pi embraces industrial customers with new services
Dec 17, 2020 — by Eric Brown 3,438 views
Raspberry Pi Ltd. has improved its support for industrial customers with a Raspberry Pi Approved Design Partners service, a Raspberry Pi Integrator Programme, and industrial support section on its website.
Raspberry Pi Ltd. acknowledged the Raspberry Pi’s growing adoption in the industrial market by announcing a Raspberry Pi Approved Design Partners program for connecting customers with vetted Pi-savvy design firms. The company also announced a regulatory compliance testing service called the Raspberry Pi Integrator Programme and a new “For industry” website.
The industrial market now represents about 44 percent of annual Raspberry Pi sales, reports Raspberry Pi Ltd, the commercial counterweight to the education-focused Raspberry Pi Foundation. The blog announcement notes that the Raspberry Pi’s long lifecycle support through 2026 is attractive to industrial customers, which often purchase older Raspberry Pi models.
Raspberry Pi CM4 (left) and Raspberry Pi 4 Model B
(click images to enlarge)
Although the consumer-oriented Raspberry Pi 400 keyboard computer made the biggest splash in the media in recent months, the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 that was announced a few weeks before was the big news in the industrial community. The RPi CM4 is one of the most powerful Arm-based compute modules on the market, delivering the quad-core -A72 core and up to 8GB DDR4 and 32GB eMMC of the Raspberry Pi 4 in a tiny 55 x 40 x 4.7mm footprint.
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Raspberry Pi Approved Design Partners
To assist industrial embedded device manufacturers that are new to the Pi, RPi Ltd. has launched a Design Partners program that connects them with verified Raspberry Pi design consultancies. The Design Partners have been tested and will be monitored to ensure continuing quality service.
The Raspberry Pi Approved Design Partners “have access to a deep level of technical knowledge and support within Raspberry Pi,” says the announcement. The current roster includes Ignys, EDA Technology, Kunst Engineering, Hallsten Innovations, and embedded system manufacturer OnLogic (formerly Logic Supply).
Raspberry Pi Integrator Programme
A new Raspberry Pi Integrator Programme is designed to help customers with regulatory compliance. The service connects users with test engineers at UL, which offers the UL Global Market Access Configurator. UL will streamline the testing and certification process for Raspberry Pi customers at its normal pricing, with no extra cut taken by RPi Ltd.
The Integrator Programme page has posted an application form to certify your product with a Powered by Raspberry Pi certification seal. The program appears to be free, but customers must agree to place the seal on each product according to guidelines.
For industry website
Finally, to better support its industrial customers, Raspberry Pi has launched a “For industry” subsection of its website with links to datasheets, compliance documents, and other resources targeted at industry. Currently, there is not much that was not already available, but it does offer an easier starting point for industrial developers to get up to speed with the Pi.
Further information
The Raspberry Pi blog announcement about the new Raspberry Pi support may be found here. More information may be found on the Raspberry Pi Approved Design Partners, Raspberry Pi Integrator Programme, and For industry pages.
When they start publishing temperature ranges from -40 to +60 C, Common mode power surge tolerance, Electrostatic Discharge, and other features indicating durability, then maybe it will be worth consideration. Until then, it’s just another toy.
The price of having a technician come out to a deep frozen, remote site with a dead Raspberry Pi will negate any possible savings one might have had from using an inexpensive device.