Written by Duncan Nicol – Market Segment Manager – Device Connections 

The Raspberry Pi single board computer has just celebrated its 4th birthday and in its short life has reinvigorated the world of computing and, more specifically, computer programming for a new generation of school children, hobbyist and application engineers. The latter have come to realise that for around £30 you have a tried and tested core ingredient for an industrial IO system with a world of possibilities, without the need for expensive industrial controllers (just don’t tell the industrial controller bods).

Of course this is great news. However the Raspberry Pi was not originally intended for industrial applications and as such is not packaged for the control cabinet or industrial environment.

Not, that is, until now.

Phoenix Contact is a world leader in Device Connectors and Electronics Enclosures for industrial applications and has just launched an extension to its well established BC enclosure portfolio with the new RPI-BC which has been specifically designed for Raspberry Pi.  (Watch video)

Unlike most enclosures for Raspberry Pi, the RPI-BC is a DIN rail or wall mountable enclosure that provides access to all the ports including the USB ports, GPIO pins and SD card without removing the lid. The enclosure can also be mounted adjacent to other modules on the DIN rail and still provide access to all ports.

And because the RPI-BC is part of the BC portfolio (watch video) of enclosures, expanding the system to add additional components is simple to achieve thanks to the integration of the DIN rail BUS connector and PTSM plugs and headers. The BUS connector provides high density connectivity to other BC modules mounted on the DIN rail. This turns the Raspberry Pi into the core of a truly integrated industrial solution.

The RPI-BC enclosure incorporates catches for securing to the DIN rail, but the very same catches can be used to mount the enclosure directly onto the wall or other flat surfaces. The optional BUS connector is mounted directly on the DIN rail allowing individual BC modules to be plugged and unplugged from the BUS system without losing connectivity to other modules.

Power can simply and conveniently be provided with the efficient STEP 5V, 2A power supply (part # 2320513). Sharing the same form factor but at just 18mm wide, the STEP power supply can be mounted alongside the RPI-BC enclosure on the DIN rail and connected to the USB-micro connector with a short cable.

Internal space has been provided within the RPI-BC to add
additional circuitry as required. Prototyping PCBs are available to order (part # 2202995 & 2202994) and connect directly to the GPIO pins of the Raspberry Pi and the enclosure’s optional BUS connector, and mount securely within the RPI-BC enclosure. The prototyping PCBs are aimed more towards the industrial than hobby markets as they provide more space for custom circuitry. PTSM headers (watch video) can be soldered directly to the GPIO expansion PCB enabling plug-in IO access from outside the enclosure (PTSM plugs).

To aid development of new projects, a development kit (Watch video) is available to order along with the prototyping PCBs and connector sets. The DEV-KIT (part # 2202525) includes the enclosure base and upper housing ready to fit the Raspberry Pi B+, B2 & 3 models with an optional adapted (part # 2202906) for the Raspberry Pi 1 Model A+.

As the Raspberry Pi becomes ubiquitous in industrial applications, the need to professionally enclose and integrate with other system components will naturally follow and the RPI-BC enclosure is the ideal solution. The RPI-BC enclosure is perfectly suited to stand alone applications, thanks to its wall mounting capability, or as part of a larger integrated control cabinet or distribution board solution.

For more information or to request a visit from one of our field sales engineers, please contact Duncan by telephone: 07799 072059 or email: dnicol@phoenixcontact.com