Brian Stumm has created a new Raspberry Pi HAT which takes the form of the Aperio and offers an easy way to easily add controls to your mini PC to apply to robotics, drone, surveillance and home automation projects.
The new piece of hardware include support for Arduino and includes the following components Arduino, RS-485, Optoisolated Digital I/O, Analog, Motor Control, PWM, Thermocouple, RTC, Battery backup with power loss detection.
Specifications of the Aperio Raspberry Pi HAT include :
• 8-bit AVR RISC-based microcontroller
• Arduino Compatible (open source software libraries)
• 8 optoisolated digital inputs (5 – 24vdc)
• 8 digital outputs (5vdc)
• 8 analog inputs (0-5vdc)
• 8 PWMs
• Coordinated 4 axis motion control (Stepper/Servo)
• Provides power to Raspberry Pi
• Real Time Clock (RTC)
• 1 Thermocouple Input (type J)
• 16 GPIO expansion (optoisolated via Aperio expansion module)
• RS485 bus interface to Rasberry Pi
• Additional απερiό board expansion over RS485 bus
• 40 pin connector to Raspberry Pi per Hardware Attached on Top (HAT) Specification
• Battery backup with power loss detection
• Dimensions: 100 x 65mm
• Conformally Coated for use in harsh environments
The creator of the new Raspberry Pi HAT explains a little more about its inspiration and benefits :
The RaspberryPi is a low cost Single Board Computer (SBC) with available connections for General Purpose Input Output (GPIO) signals to sensors, relays, etc. But the RaspberryPi is limited to 3.3vdc signals, which is a serious limitation for real world connectivity to various sensors, actuators, relays and drivers. Furthermore, the RaspberryPi has no Analog capability and lacks the “real time” operation of an embedded, RISC-based microcontroller.
Aperio bridges the gap between Human & Machine Interface. RaspberryPi handles the Human side and the graphical user interface while Aperio connects us to the real world via sensing and control. While Aperio was designed to work in conjunction with Raspberry Pi for a complete Machine Controller and Human Machine Interface (HMI), it can also be interfaced by other HMI Systems such as PCs and PLCs via the serial RS485 or i2c communication bus. Aperio is fully compliant with the Raspberry Pi, Hardware Attached on Top (HAT) specification.
For more information on the new Aperio jump over to the Kickstarter website for details by following the link below.
If you enjoy building Pi projects you might be interested in our comprehensive list of Raspberry Pi displays, HATS and small screens.
Source: Kickstarter