Waveshare IPCBOX-B Industrial Computer for Raspberry Pi CM5 - Dual Ethernet, 2x RS485 + 2x RS232

Drop a Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5 into a sealed aluminium enclosure, and you have a deployable industrial controller - one that speaks Modbus over RS485, talks to gear over RS232, and puts two independent Ethernet ports on the front panel.

The wide-range power input is what makes this practical outside a lab. A 7V~36V screw terminal accepts whatever DC rail is already in the cabinet, so there is no need to find space for a mains adapter. A 5V 5A USB-C port is there for bench work.

Networking is split across a Gigabit and a 2.5GbE RJ45 port, which is enough to bridge an isolated plant network to the site LAN without adding a switch. An M.2 B key slot and nano SIM socket take a 4G or 5G module for sites with no wired backhaul, and a separate M.2 M key slot allows for booting the system from an NVMe drive rather than an SD card or eMMC.

Note that the Compute Module 5 is not included, and neither is a power supply — choose the CM5 variant and DC supply that suit your deployment.

Features

• Deploys straight into a cabinet — 7V~36V wide-range screw terminal input means no mains adapter or separate DC-DC conversion stage

• Bridges two networks without a switch, thanks to independent 1000M and 2500M Ethernet PHYs

• Talks to both modern and legacy plant equipment: 2x RS485 and 2x RS232, plus a 1Mbps CAN interface

• Survives cabinet temperatures — the aluminium alloy case conducts heat across its full area into external fins, with a 5V PWM fan header if forced air is needed

• Adds cellular backhaul via the M.2 B key slot and nano SIM socket, for sites with no fixed line

• Boots from NVMe rather than TF card via the M.2 M key slot (2230 / 2242, NVMe protocol only), removing the usual SD card wear problem

• Mounts two ways - a rail-mount buckle is included and 75x75 VESA holes are present

• Drives a 4K display over HDMI, so the same unit serves as an HMI

• Interfaces to discrete plant signals with 2 digital inputs and 2 digital outputs, plus a controllable buzzer

• Onboard EEPROM and encryption chip for device identity and secure provisioning

• 120R jumpers select RS485 and CAN termination without opening a terminal block

Specifications

Resources

• IPCBOX-CM5 wiki

What's Included

• 1x IPCBOX-CM5-B aluminium alloy case

• 1x CM5-IPC-BASE-A-2RS485 baseboard

• 4x black nylon spacers

• 1x screw pack

• 1x screwdriver

• 1x 6-pin 3.5mm pitch double-layer terminal block

• 1x 4-pin 3.5mm pitch double-layer terminal block

• 1x rail-mount buckle

• 1x thermal tape

A Raspberry Pi Compute Module 5, DC power supply, NVMe drive and 4G module are not included.