PiTray Mini focuses on providing a neat and affordable solution for CM4 applications. It has the same outline and mounting holes as the Raspberry Pi Model B, so it can be stacked on top of an existing cluster.
The CM4 has some advantages over the Raspberry Pi 4B in industrial applications. Options with embedded eMMC storage offer much more reliable and faster disk I/O. Because CM4 is available in models without WiFi and Bluetooth, cluster power consumption can be more efficient.
Cluster builders looking for a minimal appearance with a fixed module mounting, power input and Gigabit Ethernet — PiTray Mini delivers it all!
Additionally, PiTray Mini serves as a good starter board for the CM4. eMMC-equipped CM4 versions include an eMMC boot switch, which greatly simplifies flashing an OS image to the eMMC — no need to spend time figuring out which pins to bridge! It also has a micro-SD card slot for CM4 Lite models that lack eMMC (requires a micro-SD card).
To fit the Compute Module 4 into such a small credit-card-sized board, PiTray Mini does not include DSI and CSI connectors, an audio jack, two micro-HDMI ports, or a USB 3.0 hub, since these are rarely used in cluster builds. Instead it provides only one USB 2.0, a full-size HDMI and a HAT connector, which come natively from the SoC.
Technical specifications
- 1x CM4 connector
- 1x row of standard Raspberry Pi HAT connectors
- 1x Standard HDMI 2.0 connector
- 1x Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 connector
- 1x Native USB 2.0 connector
- 1x SD card slot for CM4 variants without eMMC
- 1x USB Type-C connector for powering eMMC versions of the CM4 and for programming
- 1x Boot Mode switch for programming mode and normal mode
- 1x RUN button for easy reset
- 1x Red power LED
- 1x Green activity LED
- 2x mounting holes for CM4
- 4x corner markers for CM4 to guide module orientation
- Input power: +5V
- Dimensions: 85 mm x 56 mm