The surprise success of the Raspberry Pi has prompted many to use the boards for commercial applications. While there are multiple models to choose from, that still doesn’t mean that there’s a perfect solution for every customer.
That’ll soon be changing, however, thanks to a new agreement between Raspberry Pi Trading – the commercial arm of the Raspberry Pi Foundation – and Element14.
Following a number of customer requests, the duo will soon be able to build customized versions of the Raspberry Pi. For example, they’ll be able to reconfigure the board layout, add additional functionality or remove unnecessary features, redesign interfaces, change the board and memory configuration and so on.
As you’ve likely surmised by now, customization is being limited to volume orders with a minimum order quantity of 3,000 to 5,000 units. Element14 has more than 200 engineers on tap to help design and build custom boards for clients. Naturally, pricing and lead time will be on a per-order basis.
While not geared towards hobbyists, this is an important step forward for the Raspberry Foundation and manufacturers around the world. There are a number of industries and sectors that could take advantage of custom-designed hardware based on the Raspberry Pi platform including energy management, the Internet of Things, public signage, industrial applications and even end-consumer devices.
For more information or to explore putting in an order, head over to element14.com/custompi
https://www.techspot.com/news/62590-raspberry-pi-soon-offer-custom-built-boards.html
