Ultra low cost Linux Based Board

[ali_asadzadeh]

Hi,
I'm looking for an ultra low cost Linux board with integrated WiFi, it should have enough power to capture some HD video from a camera  and compress it with something like H.264 encoder and send it over WIFI. Do we have something in the price range of under 8-10USD? any suggestions would be highly appreciated. if there is no board with these specs, I need a low cost SOC with total BOM cost of around 5USD in the 1K QTY, so I can build a custom board for it.

[ataradov]

"Raspberry Pi Zero W" is on the higher end of that price range, but seems to do what you need to do.

[jhpadjustable]

Shenzhen Xunlong Software Co. offers the Orange Pi range of Allwinner-based SBCs, containing dual-core tablet or set-top-box SoCs with various connectors and RAM sizes. There are Armbian images for them using mainline Linux kernels, which are less clunky than Xunlong's distributions but may not support quite all the hardware yet. Be sure to check the Wi-Fi chipset. Some earlier boards had a complete crap Wi-Fi chip (XR819) based on a crap core licensed from ST. Their Aliexpress store.

[jwrodgers]

I don't think you can get the Rasp Pi Zero W in any sort of quantity when I last checked.

[ataradov]

I don't think you can get the Rasp Pi Zero W in any sort of quantity when I last checked.

I sort of suspect that it is the case, but may be they managed to ramp up the production since it was launched.

[ali_asadzadeh]

Thanks, I want to use it for an IP camera! I wonder how they would sell them in here around 15USD the full package! so there must be something cheap out there...

[Fred27]

It's amazing that only a few years ago asking for a reasonably powerful Linux board below $10 would have been met with laughter. Now it's not an unreasonable request.

[Fire Doger]

Also consider security, most of the cheap IP cameras (and some very expensive) are a common hole in the network and they are the first target. Pretty boring to see the feed but very useful if you get root on them.

[ataradov]

Thanks, I want to use it for an IP camera! I wonder how they would sell them in here around 15USD the full package! so there must be something cheap out there...

High volumes do wonders for the price.

They are clearly not built around standard development boards. Why not buy a few of those $15 cameras and see what they are based on?

[ali_asadzadeh]

They are clearly not built around standard development boards. Why not buy a few of those $15 cameras and see what they are based on

That's a good Idea
I have found some omni vision HD Image sensors for 2USD in china, maybe if I could find something from allwinner or Rockchip with internal DRAM around 2-3USD it would solve the problem.

[Rasz]

You will have problems due to Sanctions against Iran, nobody wants to be the next Meng Wanzhou.

[ali_asadzadeh]

Nobody cares in China. Meng got caught in political conflict. I would be happy to ship to Iran when I land in China.

Exactly, I have so many Chinese friends and they are very happy to help me these things you will hear in media is just pure bull-sheet they want to tell that they are doing something.

[brucehoult]

I don't think you can get the Rasp Pi Zero W in any sort of quantity when I last checked.

I sort of suspect that it is the case, but may be they managed to ramp up the production since it was launched.

I don't think it's about production ramp, but about losing money on every one they sell.

[dave j]

I don't think you can get the Rasp Pi Zero W in any sort of quantity when I last checked.

You can. The very low price is limited to one per customer only - the low price aimed at making them available to individuals who couldn't afford the normal models. They've introduced the H variants which have the headers pre-soldered and you can buy as many of them as you want. You can also get the version without headers in bulk from the Foundation directly. Both the H variants and the normal ones in bulk cost more than the one per customer version.

[brucehoult]

I don't think you can get the Rasp Pi Zero W in any sort of quantity when I last checked.

You can. The very low price is limited to one per customer only - the low price aimed at making them available to individuals who couldn't afford the normal models. They've introduced the H variants which have the headers pre-soldered and you can buy as many of them as you want. You can also get the version without headers in bulk from the Foundation directly. Both the H variants and the normal ones in bulk cost more than the one per customer version.

How much do they cost? And where exactly do you apply to get them?

[chickenHeadKnob]

How much do they cost? And where exactly do you apply to get them?

I have bought multiple Pi zero W from BuyaPi.ca. They are official Pi foundation distributors for Canada. Don't know about asia pacific region.
https://www.buyapi.ca/product/raspberry-pi-zero-wireless-wh-pre-soldered-header/
$18.95 cad now, gone up a bit, that is approx $14 usd

[brainstorm]

There's the VoCore2, pretty close to your pricing mark, but not that cheap:

https://vocore.io/v2.html

[brucehoult]

How much do they cost? And where exactly do you apply to get them?

I have bought multiple Pi zero W from BuyaPi.ca. They are official Pi foundation distributors for Canada. Don't know about asia pacific region.
https://www.buyapi.ca/product/raspberry-pi-zero-wireless-wh-pre-soldered-header/
$18.95 cad now, gone up a bit, that is approx $14 usd

I was inquiring about "get the version without headers in bulk from the Foundation directly."

[NiHaoMike]

If H.264 is not a hard requirement, you can consider an ESP32 camera board.

There are also $5 smartphones every once in a while, but it's hard getting more than a few. That said, some individuals have managed to build mining clusters with a few dozen smartphones back when smartphone mining was profitable.

[dave j]

How much do they cost? And where exactly do you apply to get them?

I don't know about how much. You can email info@raspberrypi.org to ask about volume sales. See here for where I got the details from.