October 7, 2013 – Roboteq releases the RIO I/O expansion card for the Raspberry PI Single Board Computer. RIO stacks on top of the Raspberry to create an embedded control and navigation computer, in a small footprint of just 65 x 85 x 20mm. Thanks to RIO, the 700MHz Raspberry PI can now be used to create cost effective solutions for use in robotics, industrial automation, data acquisition and control, or any other computing application requiring interfacing to the real world. RIO significantly expands the Raspberry’s limited I/O capabilities by adding 13 inputs that can be configured as Digital inputs, as 0-5V Analog inputs with 12-bit resolution, or as Pulse inputs capable of pulse width, duty cycle or frequency capture.
Eight Digital outputs are provided for driving loads up to 1A each at up to 24V. RIO includes a 32-bit ARM Cortex M4 MCU for processing and buffering the I/O, and creating a seamless communication with the Raspberry. The RIO processor can be user-programmed using a simple but powerful Basic-like programming language to perform logic, conditioning and other processing of the I/O, in real time, and thus relieving the Raspberry of these low-level functions. On the Linux side, RIO comes with drivers and a function library for configuring and accessing the I/O quickly, and for seamlessly exchanging data with the Raspberry.
RIO also features several communication interfaces, including an RS232 serial port for connecting to standard serial devices, a TTL serial port for connecting to Arduino and other Microcontrollers not equipped with RS232 transceiver, and a CANbus interface. A version of RIO is available with motion sensors, including 3 axis accelerometer, 3 axis gyroscope, 3 axis magnetometer, and a fusion algorithm for creating a precise Attitude and Heading Reference System (AHRS). Added to Roboteq's extensive offering of motor controllers, the RIO-AHRS opens a world of applications in sea, land or airborne unmanned robotics vehicles applications. The RIO card includes a DCDC converter for powering the Raspberry, RIO and external sensors, from a 8V to 30V DC power source.
RIO is available now from Roboteq and its resellers in two versions: RIO-BASIC for $85, and the RIO-AHRS for $175 in single quantity.
