If you've been eyeing the Raspberry Pi for your next project, but find that the standard configuration doesn't meet your needs, a new customization option might do the trick.
The Raspberry Pi Foundation has teamed up with manufacturing partner Element14 on a new Raspberry Pi customization service for large orders of the microcomputer. Buyers can now customize the board's layout, incorporate additional functionality, redesign the interfaces, and change up the memory configuration to suit their needs.
Just don't expect to get this perk when you buy a single Raspberry Pi for yourself, or even a few hundred. The service is aimed at OEMs buying the Raspberry Pi for commercial projects, and is only available for orders of at least 3,000 units. Costs and lead times will vary, based on your project needs.
Element14's Raspberry Pi boss Claire Doyle said "a number of" customers have requested such a service. She said the platform can be customized "to suit specific requests for applications for technologies such as Internet of Things to energy management," letting businesses "take advantage of the Raspberry Pi's ease of programming and ability to interact with and control physical devices."
Interested parties can head over to Element14's customization site to get started.
"We will support you every step of the way during the design process — from concept right through to the manufacture of the final boards; enabling the Raspberry Pi to be optimized to suit your specific applications," the site reads. "With access to over 200 engineers through Embest and AVID Technologies, Element14 offers in-house design services and manufacturing of advanced electronic assemblies for every phase of the design process."
For more on the new service, check out the video below.