Seeed Studio has just unveiled reTerminal HMI terminal that reminds me of the company’s Wio Terminal based on Microchip SAMD51 Arm Cortex-M4F microcontroller with a 2.4-inch display.
But as we’ll look into the details, reTerminal is quite a different beast as a Linux-capable device powered by a Raspberry Pi CM4 module with up to 8GB RAM, equipped with a 5-inch capacitive touchscreen display, and supporting plenty of connectivity options from GIgabit Ethernet to WiFi to LoRaWAN.
reTerminal specifications:
- SoM – Raspberry Pi Computer Module 4 with Broadcom BCM2711 quad-core Cortex-A72 processor @ 1.5 GHz, up to 8GB RAM, up to 32GB flash
- Display – 5-inch capacitive touchscreen display with 1280×720 resolution
- Video Output – Micro HDMI port up to 4Kp60
- Camera I/F – 2-lane MIPI CSI inteface
- Connectivity
- Gigabit Ethernet with optional PoE support
- 802.11 b/g/n/ac WiFi and Bluetooth 5.0 BLE (on Raspberry Pi CM4 module)
- Optional 5G, 4G LTE, LoRa, Sub-GHz wireless, etc…
- USB – 2x USB 2.0 ports
- Sensors – LIS3DHTR accelerometer, Levelek LS9800 light sensor,
- Expansion
- 40-pin header with up to 5x UART, up to 5x I2C, SDIO, DPI (Parallel RGB display), 1x PCM, up to 2x PWM, up to 3x GPCLK outputs
- Vertical expansion interface with 1x PCIe 1-lane Gen 2 (5Gbps), 1x USB, PoE
- HW Security – ATECC608A secure element
- Misc – NXP PCF8563T RTC, 4x user buttons, System & User LED’s
- Power Supply – 5V/2A via USB-C port
- Dimensions 140 x 95 x 21 mm (including mounting thread)
On the software side, the smart display can run Raspberry Pi OS, Ubuntu, or custom Linux distributions built with the Yocto Project or buildroot. Seeed Studio recommends Qt, Flutter, and Electron frameworks to build user interfaces, and also mentions support for some AI frameworks including TensorFlow, PyTorch, Keras, and Edge Impulse that got support for Raspberry Pi 4 very recently.
As you may have noticed from the specifications, reTerminal does not come with a battery and must be powered through a USB-C port. Having said that it’s designed to be modular, and we may soon see a battery module like the company did for Wio Terminal. There are two ways to add expansion modules: through the industrial connector on the back of the device, or the 40-pin GPIO on the side.
There are some “M4 mechanical nuts” to keep the add-on modules in place.
reTerminal HMI terminal will be sold for $195 with a Raspberry Pi CM4 module with 4GB RAM and 32GB eMMC flash. It’s not quite ready yet, as you may have noticed from the lack of photos, but you may find some additional details on the product page. You could also register your interest to get a small $5 discount…
Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.
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