The Future of IoT

Tachyon lacks USB-A ports, but it does have dual USB-C 3.1 connectors. One of these supports Display Port Alt Mode, allowing you to connect the Tachyon to your USB-C capable monitor. Particle also offers an add-on USB-C hub with USB-A ports, a gigabit Ethernet port, and an HDMI port. Other USB-C hubs will also work with the SBC.

Particle is also integrating a Raspberry Pi-compatible 40-pin GPIO header, allowing you to use Raspberry Pi HATs with the board. Compatibility with the latest HATs is still a gray area, even for the Raspberry Pi 5. This is largely down to a recent Python change. The change is PEP668 and it moves all user installed Python modules into virtual environments to prevent damage to the OS level Python install. This can lead to software issues with HATs. But we shall test this when we get our review unit.

Tachyon also includes support for cameras, displays, and PCIe peripherals connected via FPC ribbon cables. The dual PCIe lanes introduce the ability to connect multiple devices to the PCIe interface.

Tachyon will ship with Ubuntu 24.04 by default, but other options are available. Particle will support Yocto Linux and the chipset also includes upstream support for Qualcomm Linux, Android 13, and Windows 11.

Raspberry Pi meets its match with Particle’s Tachyon SBC

Raspberry Pi has been a pioneer in the world of single-board computers (SBCs), becoming the go-to choice for countless DIY projects from mini-PC keyboards to iPod Game Boys. Yet, the SBC landscape is far from stagnant. Now, Particle’s Tachyon compact powerhouse which aims to disrupt the market with its impressive feature set, has arrived.

At first glance, the Tachyon’s specifications are pretty astonishing. Packed into a credit card-sized form factor, it boasts a formidable combination of 5G connectivity, a potent octa-core CPU, and dedicated AI processing power. This level of integration is rarely seen in SBCs, and it positions the Tachyon as a potential game-changer.

This new SBC has been garnering support on its Kickstarter listing, absolutely smashing its £7,787 goal, reaching £80,477 at the time of writing. All with less than a month to go until the Kickstarter ends. Particle lists the Tachyon as a “Powerful 5G single-board computer w/ AI accelerator” which, right off the bat, sounds like a worthy contender for the well-established Raspberry Pi series.

Pi vs Tachyon

While the Raspberry Pi excels in its simplicity and affordability, the Tachyon targets a different audience. It’s designed for projects that demand high performance, low latency, and advanced capabilities. While the Tachyon’s specifications are impressive, its real-world performance and software ecosystem will ultimately determine its success. Particle has a solid track record with its previous products, so there’s reason for optimism. However, the company will need to deliver a compelling developer experience to attract a significant user base.

If the Tachyon lives up to its promise, it could ignite a new wave of competition. By using 5G and AI, Particle is aiming to empower a new generation of creators. Whether it will dethrone the Raspberry Pi remains to be seen, but one thing is certain: the SBC market is about to get a whole lot more interesting.

Kickstart New AI-Enhanced 5G IoT SBC

Internet-of-Things Platform-as-a-Service pioneers Particle (or as we OGs call them, “Spark”) have returned to Kickstarter to launch a brand-new campaign, for a brand-new class of product. A far cry from 2013’s 72MHz Spark Core Wi-Fi-enabled microcontroller, the new Particle Tachyon is a 2.7GHz single-board computer (SBC) with 5G connectivity and a whopping 12 TOPS of AI-optimized GPU acceleration

In a personal briefing with Particle CEO Zach Supalla in April, David Groom of Make magazine was introduced to the new device amid a flurry of impressive numbers and acronyms. But perhaps the most useful tidbit that Zach shared about the Raspberry Pi-compatible 5G AI IoT SBC was the notion of thinking of it more akin to a smartphone. Despite being similar to a Pi in terms of form-factor, the Tachyon eschews many of the built-in accessories found on other SBCs in favor of relying on the USB-C port – including for DisplayPort/HDMI output, which David was particularly excited to hear.Once you start to think of it as a Nothing One with GPIO running Ubuntu, the story gets really compelling. For starters, there’s less concern about supply chain issues since the same Qualcomm silicon is being used and supported across a spectrum of devices. In addition to all of the fancy specs, like the octa-core CPU and 5G modem with integrated antenna and Wi-Fi 6E, one of the things that really caught my interest was the 64GB of built-in storage, instead of relying on microSD cards. The cost of dongles and adapters and add-ons with some SBCs can really start to add up, so David was intrigued by the fact that he could basically just plug this into the same docking station he use for his Ubuntu-powered laptop and be off and running. But in addition to the Pi-style 40-pin GPIO, the Tachyon also features the same camera connectors as the Pi, making it perfect for machine vision projects. And because it’s Particle, you of course get a top-notch enterprise-grade platform to run it on.

As always, we want to remind you that Kickstarter is not a store, and just because you pledge money doesn’t guarantee that you will receive what was promised, or even anything at all. But Particle have been doing this for over a decade, have a great reputation among both makers and professionals, and already have prototype devices in hand. So it’s pretty easy to recommend that you head on over to Kickstarter while the Super Early Bird pricing is still available, and try to get your hands on Tachyon, the Particle from the future!