Overview
Smart Fan Unit Pictured Above
Download the Datasheet
Fan Units
The Fan Unit offers a compact and efficient method of cooling for two Compute Blades mounted in a BladeRunner™️ enclosure. The fan unit uses a 4-pin square connector to communicate with the Compute Blade. It is also shipped with a 5V PWM fan, Noctua NF-A4x20 5V.
There are two types of Fan Units, Standard and Smart.
Standard
The Standard Fan Unit offers basic PWM functionality, and allows for a no-fuss setup with zero configuration required. Because of the simplicity in its design, the Standard Fan Unit is unable to receive PWM Signals from both Compute Blades. The PWM signals can only be sent by the blade on the J1 header (Power Input 1 in the above picture)
The fan tachometer signal can be read by both blades. See the GPIO guide for the pin out configuration.
Smart
To compliment the drawback of the Standard Fan Unit, the Smart Fan Unit uses the Raspberry Pi RP2040. Utilizing the 32-bit dual ARM Cortex-M0+ microcontroller. The Smart Fan Unit is capable of full bidirectional communication to both of the cooled blades, programmable status LEDs, and sensors. This enhanced functionality comes with more complexity in its setup and configuration. It requires configuration of both the Smart Fan Unit and the Compute Blade.
Which Fan Unit Should You Use?
If simple compute tasks are your intended workload or you are using the blade in a hobbyist environment, the Standard Fan Unit is likely right for you.
If you are looking for detailed information about the state of the fan, or have more dynamic workloads the Smart Fan Unit may be necessary.
Specification
- Smart
- Standard
| Compatibility | Compute Blade |
| BladeRunner™️ Enclosures | |
| Storage | 16M-Bit Serial Flash Memory |
| GPIO | 2 x UART |
| 4-Pin 5V PWM Fan Header | |
| Boot Button | |
| Programmable Button | |
| 2 x Digital RGB LEDs | |
| 1 x LED | |
| Voltage Max | 6V |
| Voltage Min | 2.8V |
| Current Max | 110 mA |
| Current Min | 0.18 mA |
| Input Power (Max.) | 0.65W |
| Airflow Control Unit | EMC2101 |
| Temperature Monitoring Unit | EMC2101 |
| Fan Dimensions | 40x40x20mm |
| Dimensions | 40x95x43.2mm |
| Compatibility | Compute Blade |
| BladeRunner™️ Enclosures | |
| GPIO | 2 x Blade Connections |
| 4-Pin 5V PWM Fan Header | |
| Voltage Max | 5v |
| Max. input current | 100 mA |
| Input current (typical) | 80 mA |
| Input Power (Max.) | 0.5W |
| Fan Dimensions | 40x40x20mm |
| Dimensions | 40x95x43.2mm |
For additional information on the NF-A4x20 5V, see the datasheet
Block Scheme
- Smart
- Standard
GPIO
Blade Connector
The Blade connector is a square un-keyed connector. This means that is is physically possible to misalign the connector.
- Smart
- Standard
Fan Header
The header uses a four-pin Molex connector(KK family). And follows the Noctua 5V Fan pin configuration.
Debugging (Smart Fan Unit Only)
The J5 debug header enables debugging of the RP2040 via a tool like the Raspberry Pi Debug Probe.
Mechanical
