Sfera Labs extends family of Raspberry Pi servers
Sfera Labs, a designer and manufacturer of advanced solutions for embedded systems and Edge computing, has extended its family of open, easy-to-use, and reliable servers with the introduction of Strato Pi Max – a flexible and expandable industrial controller based on the Raspberry Pi Compute Module (CM) 4.
Designed for deeply embedded applications, Raspberry Pi CM 4 incorporates a quad-core ARM Cortex-A72 processor, and is available in several configurations of RAM, eMMC Flash, and with or without wireless connectivity. With Strato Pi Max, Sfera Labs has harnessed the power of the CM4 to create a powerful industrial server module that can be easily customised and optimised to meet the needs of industrial and IoT applications.
The Strato Pi Max is a DIN rail mounted module incorporating Wi-Fi and BLE wireless connectivity, dual Ethernet ports, dual SD, eMMC and/or SSD storage options, and two USB ports. The module supports up to four embedded expansion boards that extend capabilities to encompass serial (RS485/RS232) and CAN bus interfaces, digital I/O, additional wireless connectivity, and support for an uninterruptible power supply (UPS).
“The development of the Strato Pi Max further underlines our commitment to developing powerful, flexible, and open industrial servers that build on and enhance the latest Raspberry Pi technology,” says Ulderico Arcidiaco, Sfera Labs CEO. “Strato Pi Max combines the hardware features demanded by professional and industrial applications where reliability and service continuity are key requirements with the ease of development associated with the Raspberry Pi platform.”
Based on open technology and fully compatible with the toolsets, programming languages, and development frameworks available for Raspberry Pi, the new module will allow designers to implement advanced control systems in industrial, commercial and residential environments in a shorter timeframe and at a lower cost than would generally be possible with proprietary solutions.
Strato Pi Max retains the same watchdog, isolated RS-485 port, and USB ports with independent power control and fault detection built into existing members of the Strato Pi family and complies with all relevant industry standards for electrical safety, electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) and sustainability.
Finally, thanks to the collaboration between Sfera Labs and Zymbit, Strato Pi Max will be optionally available with the Secure Compute Module as its core, further shielding it for usage in zero-trust environments.