We are already testing the next generation of RevPi which is called "RevPi compact". This series will have a connector with the DCI for the original Raspi camera. We will start selling them at SPS Drives Fair in November.
But there is plenty of really good USB cameras on the market and they work fine with Compute Module 3 (CM3). We have had an exhibit at Hannover Fair where the only sensor was an USB Cam connected to the RevPi Core which controlled pumps and valves to mix oil and water from 2 tanks into a third tank and separate the fluid back in their tanks again using just the color difference of the fluids to detect the fluid levels.
Hannover fair this year? Damn, I skipped this one, would have been great to chat with you.
I am actually working on a prototype of something similar- Pi, camera, small touchscreen, distance sensor and small number of IOs.
The two specific use cases for me: measure dimensions of parts hard to measure with other sensors and stopping conveyor when some parts end up in unexpected places.
Our AIO module which will be available in June/July is a high precision module (0.1% FSC accuracy without calibration) having 4 differential inputs which can be used as current or voltage inputs (several input ranges are software controlled available). There are 2 additional RT100/RT1000 inputs and 2 analog outputs (current or voltage). These modules are not designed for high speed data acquisition but as standard inputs for typical industrial analog sensors or analog controlled actuators. We are using delta sigma converters to achieve the high precision but this excludes high speed acquisition.
This is definitely not the right place to use the RevPi System. It is designed to be a a PLC as well as an IPC or Gateway system. This mixture makes it unique compared to standard PLCs. But any system needing cycle times in the 1 ms range or below can't be controlled by a RevPi.
But try and find any PLC which is able to speak nearly every known fieldbus or can easily be used as a gateway for IoT projects.
We are in a very close contact to the Raspi Team and I can assure you that most of those "SD card issues" is pure rumor and urban legend. All known issues could be reduced to the fact that some people bought cheap cards and supposed them to work for ages even when treating them like you would never do with your PC.
Raspi team's Sw developers told me they would switch off power without shutting the system down dozens of times per day and never ever had an SD card crash for years now.
So please do not spread the rumor without any substantial first hand information. Just because someone did write something somewhere in the internet we can't judge about a technology.
Having this said I would like to add the information that RevPi Core does not use any Sd card. nPlease refer to the Compute Module 1 information in the internet to get this Version of the Raspi explained.
Hi there,
I'm project manager of Revolution Pi and would like top inform you that you could see the RevPi branded as "industrial Pi" oat the PILZ booth at Hannover Fair. This is just one of our big customers. Many leading companies have already started to port their solutions on out RevPi, e.g. TeamViewer or GTI Control (HMI solutions). There is no doubt that this project has hit the nerve of those generation of engineers who have waited so long to get rid of propriety solutions of "big S"...
That's why we called it "Revolution"...
