Waveshare has released the IPCBOX-CM5, an industrial mini PC built around the Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 with RS485, RS232, CAN Bus, and digital I/O terminal blocks. The system comes in two variants: the IPCBOX-CM5-A with four RS485 ports and the IPCBOX-CM5-B with two RS485 and two RS232 ports, both adding industrial connectivity to the CM5's capabilities.
The aluminum alloy enclosure measures 13.6 cm (5.4 inches) by 9.2 cm (3.6 inches) by 3.95 cm (1.6 inches) and features heat dissipation fins along with DIN-rail and VESA mounting options. Inside, the system provides dual Ethernet (Gigabit and 2.5GbE), four USB ports including one USB 3.2 Gen1 port, HDMI 2.0 output supporting 4K resolution, and an M.2 M-Key slot for NVMe SSDs or AI accelerators. An additional M.2 B-Key slot and Nano SIM card slot enable optional 4G LTE or 5G cellular connectivity, while the system accepts a wide 7V to 36V DC power input suitable for industrial environments.
Industrial I/O capabilities include a CAN bus interface supporting up to 1 Mbps, two digital inputs, and two digital outputs via terminal blocks. The system also integrates an RTC battery header, PWM fan control, encryption chip, and both audio jack and speaker connector. Waveshare designed the IPCBOX-CM5 for industrial control systems, IoT gateways, smart factory deployments, and remote monitoring applications.
The IPCBOX-CM5 is available now for $100 (€92) from the Waveshare store. The package includes the metal enclosure with baseboard, 12V 4A power supply, terminal blocks, DIN-rail mounting hardware, and thermal tape, though the Raspberry Pi CM5 module must be purchased separately. The system is expected to run Raspberry Pi OS with configuration for features like NVMe boot and RTC handled through the /boot/config.txt file.
