DFI VC900-M8M NXP i.MX 8M Vehicle PCs with E-Mark, 9-36V DC, CAN Bus and Wide Temperature

Telematics hardware in a vehicle sits behind a dashboard or under a seat, takes its power from a battery that dips at every engine start, and still has to record every trip. The DFI VC900-M8M series is a family of small fanless vehicle PCs built for that setting, on NXP i.MX 8M Arm processors, with E-Mark (E24) compliance and ignition control.

Both VC900-M8M builds share one design. Storage is 16 GB of eMMC 5.1, with up to 64 GB as an option, plus a microSD slot. On the front are one GbE port, COM1 as RS-232/422/485, two USB 3.0 ports, micro USB OTG, HDMI at up to 1080p and CAN bus on DB9, with three more RS-232 ports on the rear. An M.2 B key slot with Nano SIM takes an optional 4G LTE module, an M.2 E key slot takes optional Wi-Fi, and four antenna holes cover LTE, Wi-Fi and GPS. A 6-axis IMU supports motion and driver behaviour logging, and Yocto Linux 2.5 or Android 9.0 is available as the factory image. A micro USB OTG port and a front power and reset button help with servicing in the vehicle.

The two builds differ in processor and memory. The VC900-M8M-Q carries the i.MX 8M Quad, four Cortex-A53 cores at 1.3 GHz with 4 GB of LPDDR4, for units that run telematics, logging and a driver display together. The VC900-M8M-D carries the i.MX 8M Dual, two cores at 1.3 GHz with 2 GB, for single-purpose data loggers and gateways.

In practice the VC900-M8M series suits buses, coaches, delivery and service vans, plant machinery and fleet monitoring. Power is 9 to 36 V DC with ACC/IGN control on a terminal block, both builds run fanless from -20 °C to 70 °C, and shock and vibration are tested to MIL-STD-810G. The VC900-M8M mounts on DIN rail or a wall, and DFI lists E-Mark (E24), CE, FCC, UKCA and RoHS compliance. Because the computer is small and fanless, it typically fits behind a dashboard panel, under a seat or in an equipment locker, and an optional 2 W speaker amplifier with internal line-out and mic-in headers covers audible alerts.