BitScope Blade Family
Table of Contents
Industrial deployment solutions for Raspberry Pi.
BitScope Blade is a robust and flexible power and mounting system for Raspberry Pi. It simplifies industrial deployment of Raspberry Pi, from the desktop to racks, clusters and in the datacentre.
BitScope Blade Family
There are three editions; Uno, Duo and Quattro supporting one, two and four Raspberry Pi.
Blade accepts unregulated supply voltages ranging from 12V to 48V. Connection is made via the 2.1mm socket or the mounting tabs. Power is regulated to 5V on the Blade itself. This ensures the Raspberry Pi, HATs, HUB cards and other periperals are powered reliably.
Auxiliary power connectors are available to power external devices such as cooling fans.
An expansion connector supports hub cards underneath each bay for access to the Raspberry Pi I2C, SPI, GPIO and serial I/O.
The USB and Ethernet ports are accessible at the rear and Micro SD Cards are accessible at the front. The HDMI and Sound ports in BAY one are accessible for use with one or two monitors and a sound system.
Blade makes it easy to build highly scalable Industrial IoT, Edge and Cluster compute applications with Raspberry Pi; from custom IoT modules, to full a size Raspberry Pi Cluster. Blade Uno also supports HATs and has two USB ports to power external devices or charge batteries.
Single Blade Examples
The simplest use-case is a single blade used stand-alone or mounted in a rack unit:
| Stand-Alone Blade Quattro | Blade Uno IoT Module |
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| Blade Duo Client/Server | Blade Quattro Rack |
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Cluster Pack Examples
The smallest multi-blade cluster is a Cluster Pack:
| Cluster Plates (Five Blade) | Cluster Pack 10 and 20 |
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| DIN Mount Cluster Pack | Cluster Pack 60 |
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Cluster Packs comprise 2, 3, 4, 5, 12 or 15 Blades combined with a pair of Cluster Plates. The Cluster Plates integrate power distribution without the need for extensive internal wiring. They are designed for use within Blade Racks and Cluster Modules. They also offer a range of options to enable mounting in bespoke deployment applications.
Blade Rack Examples
Singe Blades or Cluster Packs are mounted in 19" metalwork to create Blade Racks:
| Blade Rack Four | Blade Rack Eight |
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| Blade Rack 20 | Blade Rack 40 |
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Blade Racks are available in a range of off-the-shelf designs as shown here or as bespoke designs for custom applications.
They occupy 1RU to 7RU.
They are designed for use with external rack mount network switches and 12V to 48V DC power sources.
They have a relatively short depth making them ideal for shallow racks or situations where access to one or more Raspberry Pi USB ports is required.
The Cluster Packs can be mounted reversed to expose the Raspberry Pi Network and USB ports at the front of the unit if required. Custom panels and mounting solutions are available.
Cluster Module Examples
Cluster Packs may be combined with networking and power to create Cluster Modules:
They scale from small to very large and are available as turn-key products or flat-pack designs:
| Cluster Module 48 | Cluster Module 144 (Flat Pack) | (Assembled) |
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Cluster Modules include a powerful Control Plane (which can be retrofit to existing clusters).
About BitScope Clusters
Raspberry Pi Clusters have been around almost as long as Raspberry Pi itself. However, they came of age in 2017 when BitScope built the first large industrial cluster (comprising 3000 cores) for Los Alamos National Laboratories. This design was constructed using BitScope Blade and Raspberry Pi Model 3B. While not particularly powerful (for typical cluster computing applications) there was a clear purpose for its construction:
The original prototype did not have a control plane so BitScope developed BitBar, a Control Plane for Blade Clusters which was retrofit to this design. The core design has been refined and used to build fully functioning remotely managed clusters such as the popular and compact CB48A. BitScope has brand new compact cluster designs coming later this year based on the recently released Cluster Blade and Raspbberry Pi 4B. The new clusters include comprehensive cluster control, cooling and orchestration as well as embedded BitScope test, measurement and data acquisition sub-systems. These enable sophisticated real-time cluster voltage, current, power and temperature monitoring which is used to optimise the operation of the cluster.
BitScope Blade Features
All Blades have similar features. They differ in the number of Raspberry Pi they support (1, 2 and 4). Blade Uno also supports the use of Raspberry Pi HATs and provides USB power.
| ✔ Raspberry Pi 4B, 3B+, 3B, 2B or Zero. | ✔ BitScope Control Plane Compatible. |
| ✔ Accepts 12V~48V unregulated supply. | ✔ Blade HUB Card Expansion Option. |
| ✔ Provides 5V @ 20W (peak, regulated). | ✔ Power Periperals, Activity LEDs. |
| ✔ Reset and Interrupt Control Inputs. | ✔ Access USB, Ethernet, HDMI & Audio. |
| ✔ Auxilliary 5V for fans/peripherals. | ✔ Use stand-alone, in clusters or racks. |
| ✔ Supports Battery Backed UPS. | ✔ Uno supports Raspberry Pi HAT Devices. |
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Product Dimensions
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Connections
BitScope Blade offers a HUB Connector available to every node. Blade Uno also supports standard the Raspberry Pi HAT (J8) connector. Both allow hardware expansion for each Raspberry Pi.
| HUB CONNECTOR | HAT CONNECTOR |
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A HUB CAP is a small board that plugs underneath each Raspberry Pi BAY on a Blade board. It enables a range of peripheral functions to be added to Blade. Examples may include real-time clocks, BAY configuration cards, status reporting, hardware cryptography channels, additional storage, custom I/O, environmental sensing and more. A HUB CAP can be viewed as a "mini HAT device". HUB Connector is electrically compatible with the original 26-way Raspberry Pi connector. BitScope Blade Duo and Quattro include a HUB (Hardware Under Blade) connector underneath each Raspberry Pi.
Technical Specifications
| Raspberry Pi | 4B, 3B+, 3B, 2B, B+, A+ Supports all current Raspberry Pi Single Board Computers (including Pi Zero W) with the exception of Blade Quattro which does not support 4B (but Cluster Blade does!). |
| Total Power Budget | 3A or 20W 4A (peak) Continous and peak current available at 5V across all slots and connected peripheral devices. |
| Nodes per Blade | 1 (Uno), 2 (Duo) or 4 (Quattro) Number of Raspberry Pi |
| HAT Device Support | 1 Number of Raspberry Pi compatible HAT devices that can be connected (subject to power budget). Blade Uno Only. |
| Fan Cooling Power | Provides 5V power source for 40mm cooling fans in Rack Mount applications. |
| External Control Plane | Supports BitBar control bus for full control plane functionality. |
| Egde Power Tabs | The blade may be powered via the mounting tabs, eliminates power wiring when rack mounted. |
| Diode Protected Power | Protection from the application of source power with the wrong polarity. |
| Short Circuit Protection | A short-circuit produces graceful board level shut-down not overheating or board failure. |
| SLA/UPS Support | Blocking diode enables use with UPS and battery backup power solutions. |
| USB Data Ports | 4 (Uno), 8 (Duo) or 16 (Quattro) the number of USB and Network ports (via the connected Raspberry Pi) |
| USB Power Ports | 2 Blade Uno Only. |
| Network Ports | 1 (Uno), 2 (Duo) or 4 (Quattro) |
| Camera Slots | Camera slots to enable the connection of visible or IR cameras. |
| HDMI Outputs | 2 (Pi4B) or 1 HDMI and Audio ports on the Raspberry Pi in Slot 1 are accessible for connection. |
| Primary Power | 5V via J8 Primary power for connected Raspberry Pi and HAT devices. |
| Auxilliary Power | 4 x 5V via 5-pin Auxilliary power for devices connected via 3-pin power headers. |
| Indicator LEDs | Signal Indicator available per node (Blade Duo and Quattro). |
| Manual device power-down | Each slot may be individually powered up via this header (powered off when disconnected). |
| Processor reset/interrupt | The device in each slot may be individually reset or interrupted via this header. Duo and Quattro Only. |
| SPI, I2C, Serial & GPIO | Access to each Raspberry Pi GPIO, SPI, I2C and Serial signals. |
| PoE Compatible DC 2.1mm | DC 2.1mm (center positive) power socket compatible with low cost passive PoE solutions. |
| Power Requirement | 12V(3A) ~ 48V(1A) Nominal supply voltage and current requirements for a fully loaded system. |
| Operating Temperature | 0 °C to 70 °C Nominal operating temperature range (board only). Recommended temperature depends on work-load. |
| Storage Requirements | -40 °C ~ +40 °C, 5 % ~ 95 % RH |
Cluster Blade
Cluster Blade (CB04B) is the newest member of the BitScope Blade family.
Cluster Blade replaces Blade Quattro in applications that use Raspbberry Pi Model 4B. It is shown here (in the foreground) with Blade Quattro (BB04B). Both products are physically compatible with Blade Racks, Cluster Packs and Modules but there are some critical differences:
| FEATURE | CB04B | BB04B |
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| Raspberry Pi Model 4B 1G, 2G, 4G and 8G | ✔ | ✗ |
| Raspberry Pi Model 3B+, 3B, 2B and B. | ✔ | ✔ |
| Supports BitScope Blade Racks. | ✔ | ✔ |
| Accepts 12V to 24V DC unregulated power source. | ✔ | ✔ |
| Provides 5V Auxiliary power (per node). | ✔ | ✔ |
| Supply Short-Circuit Protection (blocking diode). | ✔ | ✔ |
| Local Power Control for each node. | ✔ | ✔ |
| Programmable Node Activity Indicator (LED). | ✔ | ✔ |
| Supports construction of Managed Clusters | ✔ | ✔ |
| Visual Power Load Indicator (LED). | ✔ | ✗ |
| Provides up to 50W @ 5V (peak) across four nodes. | ✔ | ✗ |
| Power connectivity via Dinkel and Tabs. | ✔ | ✗ |
| Includes multi-master Cluster Control Plane. | ✔ | ✗ |
| Remote Power Control for each node. | ✔ | ✗ |
| Integrated BitScope I/O System (BIOS). | ✔ | ✗ |
| Integrated Voltage, Current and Power monitoring. | ✔ | ✗ |
| Messaging System (out-of-band communication). | ✔ | ✗ |
| Pre-emptive (current sensing) Active Cooling. | ✔ | ✗ |
| Compatible with Raspberry Pi HAT products. | ✔ | ✗ |
| BitScope Cluster Pack Power/Control solutions. | ✔ | ✗ |
| Supports Unmanaged and Edge Clusters. | ✔ | ✗ |
| Supports Desktop Micro Clusters. | ✔ | ✗ |
| Supports SLA battery backed UPS power. | ✔ | ✗ |
Beyond all the capabilities of Blade Quattro, BitScope Cluster Blade is specifically designed to build industrial grade Raspberry Pi Clusters. It offers more than twice the regulated power capacity, full remote power management for each node, pre-emptive active cooling, system monitoring and integrated diagnostics support. It uses a geographically addressed plug-and-play architecture which scales from 4 to 96 nodes per cluster module. Modules combine in racks to create clusters.
BitScope recommends CB04B for new designs.
Order Online
You may buy online direct from BitScope or order from one of BitScope's Resellers. You can also purchase cluster packs and racks online. If you seek to build large clusters or rack solutions please let us know. We quote Cluster and larger Rack orders upon request (there are more options than we can put online) Both are clusters and racks are configurable for custom deployments.
| BitScope Blade | Order Online |
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Impressum
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BitScope Blade Family |
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| Link | docs.bitscope.com/blade |
| Author | BitScope Products <products@bitscope.com> |
| Copyright | © 2020 MetaChip Pty. Ltd. T/A BitScope Designs. All Rights Reserved. |
| License | Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0) |
| Feedback | We welcome your feedback. If you find any errors, omissions or just information that is confusing or incorrect, please email us at feedback@bitscope.com with details. |
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| Rev | intsabxps7nczwad |
| Purchase Direct | https://bitscope.com/buy/blade |
| AVNet/element14 | https://bitscope.com/e14/blade |
| Enquiries | BitScope Sales <sales@bitscope.com> |
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