Raspberry Pi is one of the smallest microcomputers in the world. It is small in size but powerful in function. The system based on Linux has the characteristics of open source. Since its inception, it has been sought after by engineers and development enthusiasts. At present, Raspberry Pi has been applied in the industrial field. For example, KUNBUS，a Germany company has developed an industrial computer based on Raspberry Pi for industrial control and data collection.

With the continuous improvement of performance and reliability, Raspberry Pi is more and more widely used in the field of industrial control, and more and more control engineers choose Raspberry Pi  as the industrial controller. So, what knowledge is necessary for the development and application of industrial Raspberry Pi? What are the main applications at present? Can it really replace PLC?

Q: What's the difference between industrial Raspberry Pi and consumer Raspberry Pi bought online?

A: The differences between them are as follows:

① Industrial Raspberry Pi is characterized by industrial package; wide temperature operation, working temperature up to - 40 to + 55 ℃; Approved some industrial standard tests, such as EMI, anti-surge and emergency test;  and ESD polarity protection, reaching 4KV / 8Kv. It is also an industrial enclosure protection.

② Industrial Raspberry Pi support modularity, expansibility, compatible with industrial requirements. Support DIN rail installation, expand a series of modules such as I/O and gateway through simple connector connection, which is very convenient for industrial use.

③ Industrial Raspberry Pi installed the Rasbian system based on Linux and installed the real-time patch. It is a real-time system, with some internal software integration, and a separate configuration software, Pictory.

④ Industrial Raspberry Pi uses about 24V power supply commonly used in industry, which is more stable and also equipped with load protection,. etc.

Q: What are the main applications of industrial Raspberry Pi?

A: Industrial Raspberry Pi is widely used in various fields of industry due to its open-source characteristics. At present, industrial Raspberry Pi is widely used in many fields, such as data collection and upload, small-scale control, combined with software used as soft PLC, gateway of industrial Internet of things, and some edge computing applications,. etc. it has unlimited possibilities in the industrial field.

Q: Can industrial Raspberry Pi used as PLC? How to achieve it?

A: Industrial Raspberry Pi is used as a PLC in combination with third-party software, such as Codesys, LogiCAD and other software. In essence, it is a function of soft PLC.

Q: How does Raspberry Pi collect the industrial field data? 

A: Firstly, the industrial Raspberry Pi itself can expand some I/O modules, directly collect some digital and analog data; Secondly, the industrial Raspberry Pi itself has the function of modbus, which can act as MODBUS RTU and TCP to collect MODBUS data with master-slave function; industrial Raspberry Pi can expand its series of gateway modules, including some mainstream field buses and industrial Ethernet, such as Profibus, CANopen, Profinet, Ethernet/IP, EtherCAT,. etc. which can collect data of various industrial field control layer networks through gateway.

Q: How about the application of industrial Raspberry Pi in China?

A: At present, some companies from China and kunbus from Germany jointly promote the development of industrial Raspberry Pi products in China. A large number of industrial Raspberry Pi products have been used in factories and enterprises in China, including Bosch and other large brands. At present, industrial Raspberry Pi is applied to the field of industrial Internet in combination with OPC UA, MQTT and other standards and protocols. By collecting data from industrial sites, it is put into industrial Raspberry Pi for computing or uploaded to MES, ERP or cloud for cloud computing.