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Raspberry Pi as Process controller

Former Member

hi  bros.

am freshe graduated control engineer , closed to process control and recently become a raspberry interested and i want to know the opportiunities to build process controller using Rasapberry pi and also threats ( scan time of reading analogs , reliability  , number of i\o ..etc

all the best image

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    Greetings Yousuf,

     

    The R-Pi could be used as a Process Controller, however it does have some limitations that you should be aware of:

     

    1) There are no analog inputs on this device.  In order to add them you would need to design a secondary circuit with an analog to digital converter.  Of course, to interface with many sensors you will have to design an interface circuit of some type.

    2) There are not a lot of digital inputs available on the Pi.  It only has 17 General Purpose Input/Output (GPIO) - and thats if you are not using any of them as UART, SPI, or I2C.

     

    Speed is probably not an issue as it could handle a good majority of data capture in the khz range.  For most process controls, this is fast enough.  (But, Im sure there are those processes that need faster!).  As far as reliability, I have noticed few reliability issues with the Pi in the many uses that I have put it through.  However, the vast majority of these uses have been in environmentally controlled areas.  The Pi is not hardened for industrial use, some some environments might be too hard on it.

     

    The platform it is built on - both in regards to hardware and software - are easy to use and have a lot of support out there.  So that is a plus.

     

    If you want to use something similar - in terms of hardware and software - but want more I/O, take a look at the BeagleBone Black.  Its also a small linux box but has a lot more I/O - including analog inputs!  However, it still has the speed limitation (if khz range is a limitation) and you would need to design interface circuits to sensors.

     

    I hope this addresses your questions.

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  • 0

    Greetings Yousuf,

     

    The R-Pi could be used as a Process Controller, however it does have some limitations that you should be aware of:

     

    1) There are no analog inputs on this device.  In order to add them you would need to design a secondary circuit with an analog to digital converter.  Of course, to interface with many sensors you will have to design an interface circuit of some type.

    2) There are not a lot of digital inputs available on the Pi.  It only has 17 General Purpose Input/Output (GPIO) - and thats if you are not using any of them as UART, SPI, or I2C.

     

    Speed is probably not an issue as it could handle a good majority of data capture in the khz range.  For most process controls, this is fast enough.  (But, Im sure there are those processes that need faster!).  As far as reliability, I have noticed few reliability issues with the Pi in the many uses that I have put it through.  However, the vast majority of these uses have been in environmentally controlled areas.  The Pi is not hardened for industrial use, some some environments might be too hard on it.

     

    The platform it is built on - both in regards to hardware and software - are easy to use and have a lot of support out there.  So that is a plus.

     

    If you want to use something similar - in terms of hardware and software - but want more I/O, take a look at the BeagleBone Black.  Its also a small linux box but has a lot more I/O - including analog inputs!  However, it still has the speed limitation (if khz range is a limitation) and you would need to design interface circuits to sensors.

     

    I hope this addresses your questions.

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