Raspberry Pi Add-on Pi-oT Board Offers Industrial IoT Automation Solution

Raspberry Pi boards boast tons of uses, from low-power home theatre PCs (HTPCs) and network attached storage (NAS) devices to retro game emulation consoles. Among the most exciting uses of a Raspberry Pi, you'll find Internet of Things (IoT) applications such as a do-it-yourself (DIY) smart home hub. With its small footprint, minimal power draw, and superb compatibility with both hardware and software, the Raspberry Pi is an ideal single-board computer (SBC) for IoT applications. Now, the Pi-oT board seeks to provide an industrial Internet of Things solution.

Pi-oT Board Launches as an Industrial IoT Solution

A startup out of Cleaveland, Ohio in the United States, Pi-oT, debuted a crowdfunding campaign for its commercial IoT automation solution. The cleverly-named Pi-oT fuses Pi, as in Raspberry Pi, and IoT. The Pi-oT is a mountable chassis replete with DIN-rail, and fan. Onboard, it's rocking 40-pin GPIO interface, eight ADC, power outputs, and five relays. Therefore, it's perfectly suited for smart home automation projects. However, where the Pi-oT differs is in its onus on industrial IoT, not just hobbyists. What's more, its DIN rail mount allows for easy mounting anywhere. 

Pi-oT features a module slated to maximize the capabilities of the Raspberry Pi's 40-pin GPIO header. It's an MCP3008/3208 Python library that's used to read analog inputs. As such, the Pi-oT forgoes customized software. An array of SPDT relays and jumpers ensures that the Pi-oT can handle alternate SBCs such as Raspberry Pi competitors and even Arduinos. 

Where the Pi-oT proves revolutionary is in its focus on using the Raspberry Pi in an industrial setting. That's not completely new, but specialized commercial Internet of Things hardware to take advantage of the Raspberry Pi and other SBCs isn't exactly 

The Pi-oT has launched on Kickstarter. Check out its crowdfunding campaign and consider supporting this awesome project.