Roboteq, Inc is collaborating on a kickstarter project named RIO (for Raspberry IO) and aimed at creating an intelligent I/O card that stacks over the $35 Raspberry PI Linux Single Board computer. The RIO card includes a rich set of I/O and connectivity features. The card can also be fitted with an optional ARHS module, including 3 axis accelerometer, 3 axis gyroscope, 3 axis magnetometer and a fusion algorithm for precise attitude and heading measure.

Roboteq is the industrial partner of this project and will manufacture, market and sell the RIO card worldwide. The RIO card and the Raspberry PI combine to create an amazingly powerful embedded Robot Navigation Computer for its size, power consumption and price. Added to Roboteq's extensive offering of motor controllers, the RIO-based computer opens a world of applications in sea, land or airborne unmanned robotics vehicles applications, as well as in more traditional automation and machine control systems.

The RIO card includes a DCDC power converter, allowing the Raspberry PI to be powered from any DC source up to 40V. RIO also includes 13 inputs that can be configured as Digital inputs, 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.

The board features several communication interfaces, including: RS232/RS485 serial interface for connecting to standard serial devices, a TTL serial port for connecting to Arduino and other Microcontrollers not equipped with RS232 transceiver, and a CAN interface.

RIO includes a 32-bit ARM microcontroller for processing and buffering the I/O, and managing the communication with the processor on the Raspberry PI module. The processor can be configured to perform, on its own, a long list of conversion, capture, filtering, or conditioning on the I/O, so that the PI processor is relieved of these functions. On the Linux side, RIO comes with drivers and function library for configuring and accessing the I/O quickly, and seamlessly exchange data with the Raspberry.

Roboteq will offer the RIO card as a separate I/O card, or as a fully assembled and configured embedded Robot Navigation Computer.

Project details are found at http://kck.st/15KlxBm