How to Make a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 Carrier Board in KiCad - Part 1 | Digi-Key Electronics

Raspberry Pi released the Compute Module 4 (CM4) in October, which is a single board computer with all of the processing power of the Raspberry Pi 4, but in a tiny form factor! It removes many of the connectors (USB, HDMI, etc.), as the intention is for you to add your own with a custom board and enclosure.

The CM4 is not intended to be a desktop replacement (like the RPi 4) but rather to be used in industrial or professional cases where you might need an SBC embedded in, say, a robot.

In this series, we’ll show you how to create your own, custom Raspberry Pi CM4 carrier board with KiCad!

In the first episode of the series, we’ll start by creating the schematic. Note that we begin by using a CM4 carrier template, which be downloaded here: https://github.com/ShawnHymel/rpi-cm4....

We also use the Raspberry Pi CM4IO carrier board as a reference, as it has a lot of example circuitry for connectors, ports, etc. that connect to the Compute Module 4. The CM4IO KiCad design files can be found here: https://www.raspberrypi.org/products/...

Finally, note that you need KiCad 6.0 or later to view the CM4IO or template files. If v6.0 is not available yet, you can download the nightly build of KiCad: https://kicad.org/download/

The video shows you how to work with hierarchical sheets in KiCad and add custom components. You can find pre-made schematic symbols and footprints for some components on Ultra Librarian or SnapEDA.

We add USB-C power, USB 2.0 data (client mode), LEDs, a Qwiic/Stemma connector, and a basic header to the CM4 carrier board. While this particular board has not been tested (yet) when this video was released, we hope that this video helps you create your own carrier board!

The GitHub repo for the Base Carrier shown in this video can be found here: https://github.com/ShawnHymel/rpi-cm4....

Product Links:
Raspberry Pi CM4 - https://www.digikey.com/en/products/f...

Related Videos:
Introduction to KiCad series:    • An Intro to KiCad – Part 1: How PCBs Are M...  

Related Project Links:
Creating a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 (CM4) Carrier Board in KiCad -https://www.digikey.com/en/maker/proj...

Related Articles:
Beginner’s Guide to KiCad - https://www.digikey.com/en/maker/proj...