Particle Tachyon SBC debuts with Snapdragon chip for handling on-device AI tasks

The crowdfunding campaign for a new SBC called the Particle Tachyon is now live. At the core, it's a pocket-sized single-board computer with an octa-core Qualcomm processor. More specifically, it's the Snapdragon QCM6490, which is paired with 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of UFS storage.

This Snapdragon chipset also features the 6th generation AI Engine NPU, which can deliver up to 12 TOPs of AI performance. There's support for WiFi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2, and mmWave 5G for wireless connectivity. The ports of the SBC include one USB 3.1 Type-C with DisplayPort Alt mode, two CSI 4-lane camera inputs, one MIPI-DSI 4-lane display input, and a 40-pin Raspberry Pi-compatible GPIO header.

Particle is primarily marketing the Tachyon SBC for edge-to-cloud computing or IoT applications. Thanks to the NPU of the Snapdragon chip, it can handle a good number of on-device AI tasks, and the speedy WiFi and cellular connectivity will enable stable connections with connected devices or a network.

You can expand the capabilities of this single-board computer by adding HAT boards, which will also enable the board to work with PCIe NVME SSDs. When it comes to powering the SBC, Tachyon has a battery charger built-in, allowing you to power it through a lithium-ion battery. It can also be powered by a power adapter.

Pricing-wise, the Particle Tachyon currently has a starting pre-order tag of $149, which is higher than the Raspberry Pi 5 with 4 GB of RAM (8/128 GB starter kit available on Amazon). The SBC is expected to start shipping in February 2025.