EDATEC's CM4 Nano Is a Rugged Industrial Carrier for the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4

Industrial and embedded electronics specialist EDATEC has launched a ruggedized alternative to the Raspberry Pi 4 single-board computer, designed to make it more appealing to the industrial user — and maintaining compatibility by powering it with a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 inside.

"[The] CM4 Nano is an embedded computer designed for industrial applications, based on the Raspberry PI Compute Module 4 (CM4)," EDATEC explains of its new design. "CM4 Nano provides two USB 3.0, one USB 2.0, one standard HDMI, and a gigabit Ethernet port, DSI and CSI [Display and Camera Serial Interface] interfaces, and a 40-pin standard expansion connector."

In short, it's a lot like a Raspberry Pi 4 — though with only one HDMI output instead of two, and missing one USB port. A closer look, though, reveals the changes, and they run deeper than a simple layout shift. The power input, for starters, is different: the USB Type-C port is missing, replaced by a barrel-jack that can accept 7-18V DC. A connector is provided for an external antenna, rather than the admittedly-clever PCB antenna of the Raspberry Pi 4. There's also support for eMMC storage in addition to, or in place of, microSD cards.

That latter feature, admittedly, comes courtesy of the fact the CM4 Nano is powered by the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 — and thus shares its specifications, including a quad-core Arm Cortex-A72 processor running at up to 1.5GHz, up to 8GB of RAM, and integrated dual-band Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connectivity. The eMMC storage is on-module, meaning you'll need to pick up a Compute Module 4 which includes it — with 8GB, 16GB, and 32GB variants on offer — or be left with just microSD storage and loading an operating system over the network.

The module and carrier board are housed in a chunky aluminum chassis which doubles as a passive heatsink, providing support for a wider operating temperature or the potential to overclock the processor for better performance. The carrier's external antenna connection is brought out externally, with access to all the carrier board's ports. To round things off, there's also a built-in piezoelectric buzzer, a real-time clock, and support for Power over Ethernet (PoE) via an optional adapter to simplify installation.

More information on the CM4 Nano can be found on the EDATEC website, with units available in the channel now starting at $97.50 for the 1GB RAM variant with 8GB eMMC.