Topic Questions
How is an Industrial SBC built different from a desktop?
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Industrial computers are designed with features that improve reliability and prevent failures. Key considerations include resistance to electromagnetic interference (EMI) and electrostatic discharge (ESD), along with the use of isolation technologies such as opto-isolation or capacitive isolation. At EDA Tech, we also use components that exceed operating requirements—for example, using 80 V-rated components on 24 V I/O circuits—to better tolerate noise, surges, and misapplication.
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They also offer power-loss protection through optional supercapacitor backup systems that provide 30–60 seconds of runtime after power failure is detected, allowing the system to shut down gracefully and avoid memory or storage corruption.
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Reliability is further validated through extensive R&D stress testing, including thermal cycling, vibration testing, power-cycle testing, and endurance testing, as well as 100% full-unit testing before shipment.
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The underlying components are often similar to those used in commercial systems, with many coming from the same foundries and designed using the same tools. The real difference lies in how those components are integrated into a system.
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In EDA Tech’s case, we start with a proven compute module from Raspberry Pi and add industrial interfaces such as RS-232, RS-485, CAN bus, EtherCAT, multiple Ethernet ports, and digital and analog I/O. We then design those subsystems with enhanced EMI/ESD protection, isolation, over-spec component selection, and power-loss protection to meet industrial reliability requirements.
Do you see Industrial SBCs being used in non-factory settings?
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Industrial and rugged single-board computers (SBCs) are used far beyond factory automation. Because they are highly flexible computing platforms, they serve as gateways, edge computing devices, and control systems across many industries.
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One of the largest growth areas is smart energy, where SBCs support grid monitoring, predictive maintenance, utility-line inspection, and solar energy systems. For example, they can monitor transformer temperatures, collect data from solar installations, and help utilities identify potential issues before failures occur.
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The oil and gas sector also relies on SBCs for applications such as human-machine interfaces (HMIs), enabling operators to monitor and control equipment in the field.
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Transportation is another major market. SBCs are increasingly used in V2X (vehicle-to-everything) systems that improve road safety, traffic flow, and parking management by combining onboard computing with specialized wireless communications. They are also found in drones, rail systems for collision avoidance and maintenance monitoring, and maritime applications such as vessel and container tracking.
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In aerospace, SBCs support onboard systems including Wi-Fi networks and in-flight entertainment platforms. Meanwhile, smart city deployments use SBCs to power intelligent sensors, utility monitoring, environmental sensing, water and gas metering, and public connectivity services such as city-wide Wi-Fi.
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Overall, industrial SBCs have evolved well beyond the factory floor and now play a critical role in energy, transportation, aerospace, maritime, oil and gas, and smart city infrastructure.
As Industrial SBCs grow what advanced workloads do you see emerging?
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Industrialized SBCs have evolved far beyond their traditional roles as simple controllers or gateways. Today, they are increasingly used to run more advanced, data-driven, and latency-sensitive workloads at the edge, bringing compute closer to machines and devices where real-time decisions are required.
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One of the most common applications is machine vision, which supports quality inspection, safety monitoring, and process verification. These systems often require immediate responses and cannot always rely on cloud connectivity, making edge processing essential.
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Predictive maintenance is another major use case. As more sensors are added to industrial equipment, organizations are looking for actionable insights rather than raw data. Edge computing platforms can analyze sensor data locally to detect potential issues before failures occur.
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More recently, advances in AI have expanded the capabilities of industrial SBCs. While complex AI models traditionally ran in the cloud, they are increasingly being deployed at the edge. This includes applications such as predictive maintenance and machine vision, as well as emerging use cases involving large language models (LLMs) and vision-language models (VLMs).
Are there any constraints that you’re seeing from the front runners like bandwidth, IO’s, or memory constraints? When you talk about big applications, what’s the limiting factor at this point?
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There are several potential bottlenecks in industrial AI systems. Memory is one example, especially given current memory and RAM supply constraints, but it’s rarely the only limiting factor. In practice, performance is usually constrained by a combination of factors, including memory bandwidth, power availability, thermal limits, and cost.
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For compute-intensive AGI applications, memory access can be heavily stressed because large volumes of data must move between CPUs, accelerators, and peripherals. However, power and thermal constraints are often just as important in industrial environments. Devices may operate on limited power sources or in sealed enclosures where active cooling is not possible, restricting both power consumption and heat dissipation.
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The key challenge for customers is balancing these competing requirements. Success is not just about achieving peak performance, but about delivering sustained performance that can be maintained reliably over years of operation.
How have component shortages influenced sourcing patterns?
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The current memory shortage is being driven largely by cloud providers, hyperscalers, and AI applications, which are consuming significant amounts of high-bandwidth memory. As a result, major memory suppliers are prioritizing those markets, creating supply constraints for other industries.
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While strong supplier relationships built over many years have helped us navigate the situation, supply remains challenging. One of the most important strategies has been multi-sourcing, ensuring that products are not dependent on a single DRAM or storage supplier. This requires extensive qualification and testing, both internally and with manufacturing partners, before introducing additional approved vendors.
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We have also implemented creative engineering solutions. For example, when certain memory densities are difficult to source, we can combine multiple lower-capacity DRAM devices to achieve the desired memory configuration. In parallel, we are encouraging customers to right-size their designs. Because memory has historically been inexpensive, many systems were configured with more capacity than necessary. Revisiting those requirements can improve availability and reduce supply risk.
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The biggest uncertainty is how long the shortage will continue. Industry estimates range from several months to a couple of years. While supply constraints and pricing pressures are expected to ease over time, the timing remains difficult to predict.
How do you define “ruggedized” and which industries drive your most extreme environmental requirements?
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Building a rugged single-board computer requires attention to thermal, electrical, mechanical, and component-level reliability.
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One of the most important requirements is industrial temperature support. Rugged SBCs are typically rated from -40°C to +85°C, allowing them to operate reliably in environments ranging from arctic conditions to hot desert climates.
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Power design is equally critical. In addition to supporting a wide input voltage range—such as 8–60 VDC—the onboard power system must be engineered to withstand electrical disturbances including ESD, surges, bursts, and other transients commonly found in harsh environments.
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Mechanical robustness is another key consideration. Rugged systems use locking, shrouded connectors that prevent cables from loosening under vibration. Expansion interfaces such as Mini PCIe and M.2 allow modules to be securely fastened with screws, further improving vibration resistance.
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Component quality also plays a major role in long-term reliability. High-quality boards use durable components, such as ceramic capacitors instead of electrolytics, and source parts through authorized distributors to ensure authenticity, quality, and traceability.
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Finally, the enclosure and mounting solution are just as important as the board itself. A rugged enclosure, secure mounting hardware, and proper internal support all contribute to protecting the system from shock, vibration, and environmental stress.
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Ultimately, rugged SBC design is the result of many factors working together, including temperature tolerance, power protection, mechanical durability, component quality, supply chain integrity, and enclosure design.
Are there any particular applications or environments that really pushes the boundaries?
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Some of the most demanding deployment environments come from industries such as mining, manufacturing, defense, aviation, and even space. Mining equipment operates in harsh outdoor conditions with constant vibration, temperature extremes, and exposure to the elements. Factories can present their own challenges, including hazardous locations, moisture, noise, and heavy vibration. Defense and aerospace applications add further stresses, from high-speed vehicles operating in desert conditions to aircraft exposed to cold temperatures and continuous movement. In some cases, customers have even explored deploying systems in space, requiring additional protection such as conformal coatings.
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These industries are driving the demand for highly rugged and reliable computing platforms. From our perspective, reliability is non-negotiable and is achieved through end-to-end engineering. This includes in-house IP development, chip and board design, industrial design, testing, compliance, software development, and long-term software maintenance. Continuous updates and backward compatibility across all products are also critical components of reliability.
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A strong example is the deployment of Raspberry Pi Compute Modules in professional flight information display systems at Heathrow Airport. Working with Sharp, the solution supports approximately 3,500 displays throughout the airport and underwent extensive reliability testing before deployment. Because these systems provide critical flight information, downtime is not acceptable.
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According to customer feedback, key factors behind the platform’s selection included improved performance, high visual quality, lower costs, an open-source operating system, low operating expenses, and long-term hardware support. The project demonstrates how reliability, quality, and lifecycle support are essential requirements for industrial computing applications.
How do you see the competitive landscape changing over the next 3-5 years? What do you think the next biggest request from Industrial SBC customers might be?
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One of the biggest trends I see over the next few years is increased competition in the single-board computer (SBC) and compute module market. More competitors entering the space will drive innovation and help expand adoption across a wider range of applications.
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Despite the growth of SBCs, many OEMs still design systems from discrete components. That approach brings challenges related to sourcing, inventory management, compliance, component shortages, and long-term support. As a result, there remains a significant opportunity for more organizations to adopt SBCs and compute modules as a faster, lower-risk alternative.
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The advantages are compelling. SBCs and compute modules can significantly reduce development time—often shortening product design cycles by six months or more—while providing a proven, production-ready platform. They are available across a wide range of performance levels and price points, allowing customers to select the solution that best fits their application.
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As more applications move toward edge computing, AI, industrial automation, transportation, energy, and smart infrastructure, demand for SBC-based solutions is expected to continue growing. Many organizations that adopt compute modules for one project often return to them for future designs because of the benefits in time-to-market, reliability, and development efficiency.
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Overall, while competition in the market will increase, the broader opportunity lies in expanding adoption among customers who have not yet transitioned from traditional board-level designs to modular computing platforms.
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Suppliers Featured in Video
Raspberry Pi
The Raspberry Pi Foundation works to put the power of digital making into the hands of people all over the world, so they are capable of understanding and shaping our increasingly digital world, able to solve the problems that matter to them, and equipped for the jobs of the future.
They provide low-cost, high-performance computers that people use to learn, solve problems, and have fun. Raspberry Pi provides outreach and education to help more people access computing and digital making. They develop free resources to help people learn about computing and how to make things with computers, and train educators who can guide other people to learn.
NXP
NXP enables secure connections and infrastructure for a smarter world, advancing solutions that make lives easier, better and safer. As the world leader in secure connectivity solutions for embedded applications, NXP is driving innovation in the secure connected vehicle, end-to-end security and privacy and smart connected solutions markets.
Gateworks
Gateworks designs and manufactures high-quality, ARM-based, single-board computers (SBC) for embedded and industrial applications. Their rugged SBCs are the computing platform of choice for companies who value reliability, long-life availability, and superior technical support. Gateworks is an ISO 9001:2015 certified organization and all SBCs are designed and manufactured at their corporate headquarters in California. Gateworks takes pride in being a trusted partner and key supplier to companies all over the world who rely on their products to enable solutions.
EDATEC
EDA Technology Co., LTD (EDATEC) provides standard hardware solutions and offers design & manufacturing services that accelerate custom electronic product development and reduce time to market. As one of design partners of Raspberry Pi, EDATEC focus on industrial RPi based solutions over years. Our customers serve IoT, Industrial Control, Automation, Green Energy and Artificial Intelligence markets. We have R&D centers in Shanghai, Wuhan, and Shenzhen along with production facilities in Dongguan, China. We have technical, business development resources in the United States and China.