Compact3566 – A Rockchip RK3566 SBC that closely follows Raspberry Pi 3 form factor

We’ve very recently written about Geniatech XPI-3566 SBC powered by Rockchip RK3566 CPU that somewhat follows the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B form factor. Boardcon Compact3566 offers similar features, but it appears to keep exactly the same port assignment as the Raspberry Pi SBC, so it should be compatible with more accessories.

The Compact3566 SBC ships with up to 8GB LPDDR4 and 128GB eMMC flash, features Gigabit Ethernet & WiFi 5, four USB 3.0/2.0 ports,  HDMI 2.0 output, MIPI DSI and CSI interfaces, the 40-pin GPIO header, as well as extra built-in features such as an M.2 socket for storage, RTC with battery, and a built-in microphone.

Compact3566 specifications:

• SoC – Rockchip RK3566 quad-core Arm Cortex-A55 @ up to 1.8 GHz with ARM Mali-G52 2EE GPU with support for OpenGL ES 1.1/2.0/3.2. OpenCL 2.0. Vulkan 1.1, 0.8 TOPS NPU
• System Memory – 2GB, 4GB, or 8GB LPDDR4/LPDDR4X
• Storage
  • 8GB, 16GB, 32GB, 64GB or 128GB eMMC flash
  • M.2 socket for SSD (Note: the specs say “PCIe 2.0 NVMe SSD”, but the photo below reads “SATA SSD”, and either is possible in theory since supported by the processor. The socket only seems suitable for M.2 2240 SSDs).
  • MicroSD card slot
• Display
  • HDMI 2.0 output up to 4Kp60
  • MIPI DSI/LVDS display connector
• Audio
  • ES8388 audio codec
  • 3.5mm audio jack with headphones and microphone signals
  • Built-in microphone
• Camera –  15-pin FPC connector for MIPI CSI camera
• Networking
  • • Gigabit Ethernet RJ45 port via Realtek RTL8211F-CG controller
    • Dual-band 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac WiFi 5 and Bluetooth 4.2 (BL-Link BL-M8821CS1 module) with u.FL antenna connector
• USB – 1x USB 3.0 port, 1x USB 2.0 OTG Type-A port, 2x USB 2.0 host ports
• Expansion – 40-pin GPIO header with 4x UART, SPI, I2C, PWM, GPIOs, and SPDIF_TX (Should be at least partially compatible with Raspberry Pi 40-pin GPIO header but no pinout diagram is available)
• Debugging – Via Micro USB port (also used for power)
• Misc – Recovery button, 2x LEDs, RTC with a backup battery
• Power Supply – 5V/2A via Micro USB port
• Dimensions – 85 x 56mm (Raspberry Pi 3-like form factor)
• Weight – 50 grams

Boardcon says the Compact3566 supports Android 11 and Debian 10, and the board is especially well suited to embedded applications such as home security systems, robots with face recognition, drones, and HMI.

The Rockchip RK3566 board will not be perfectly compatible with the Raspberry Pi 3 Model B as the processor is in a slightly different location, plus the USB 2.0 ports are higher, so not all enclosures may fit. The company did not bother to provide a pinout diagram for the 40-pin GPIO header either, so we can’t say which Rasperry Pi HATs are likely to work, or which ones won’t.

The board is available for purchase, but you’d need to contact the company by “email, phone, or fax” to arrange the order.  The Compact3566 is the third Compact board from Boardcon with previous models based on Rockchip RK3128 and NXP i.MX6, but the latter is much older and does not use the Raspberry Pi 3B form factor at all. You’ll find a few more details on the products page.

Thanks to theguyuk for the tip.

Jean-Luc Aufranc (CNXSoft)

Jean-Luc started CNX Software in 2010 as a part-time endeavor, before quitting his job as a software engineering manager, and starting to write daily news, and reviews full time later in 2011.

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