Raspberry Pi and Arduino for Industrial Applications
January 03, 2025
Blog
Open, modular platforms, such as Raspberry Pi and Arduino, offer accessible, customizable and cost-effective solutions that enable businesses to meet their specific needs without significant upfront costs and industrial businesses—especially small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs)—are increasingly turning to them as a foundation for rapid innovation.
By harnessing connected devices, real-time data analytics, and predictive maintenance, companies can enhance operational efficiency and make well-informed, data-driven decisions. However, while these platforms offer enormous potential, deploying them in industrial environments comes with unique challenges that need to be carefully managed.
Benefits of Raspberry Pi and Arduino for SMEs:
These open platforms provide SMEs with the flexibility and affordability necessary to develop highly tailored industrial solutions. With their modular design, these platforms allow businesses to assemble components for specific functions, ranging from monitoring temperature and humidity levels to facilitating complex robotics tasks.
Importantly, these offer cost-efficiency, with both Raspberry Pi and Arduino boards being affordable and not requiring costly licensing fees, which makes them ideal for companies that need to innovate without major financial risk.
Furthermore, they offer compatibility, with these platforms allowing easy integration with a wide array of sensors, actuators, and modules, meaning anything from a simple temperature sensor to high-definition cameras for image processing can be easily added to the system.
Open-source community support is also a key advantage, with a wealth of open-source libraries, tutorials, and project examples available from the global developer community. This support makes it easier for SMEs to overcome technical challenges and significantly speeds up the development process.
And last, but not least, is the customization and agility that come with these platforms. Open platforms allow for greater flexibility than proprietary systems, enabling SMEs to adapt solutions to their precise requirements and respond swiftly to regulatory changes, technological advancements, or client demands.
However, especially in industrial settings, there are significant challenges that need to be overcome.
Deploying Open Platforms in Industrial Environments
While open platforms offer flexibility and rapid deployment potential, adapting them to industrial settings can require specialized knowledge and careful planning to meet rigorous operational standards.
Arguably the biggest challenge is the need for field-specific expertise. Although open platforms are designed to simplify programming, applying them effectively in industrial contexts often requires in-depth knowledge of the specific field. Familiarity with sector-specific protocols and requirements is essential to configure systems that align with operational goals.
In addition, observance of compliance and safety standards is vital. When open platforms are integrated with other devices and components, the complete assembly must meet industry compliance standards, which may include certifications for electrical safety, electromagnetic compatibility, and data integrity. Achieving this requires additional testing and validation to certify compatibility with existing industrial systems and adherence to regulatory guidelines.
Also of note when it comes to challenges are their scalability and customization possibilities. Deploying open platforms within broader industrial infrastructure often involves customization to ensure they operate seamlessly with existing systems. This scalability and compatibility demand may require advanced configuration and tuning to meet the high performance and reliability standards expected in industrial applications.
Leveraging Connected Devices and IoT for Industrial Benefits
Despite these challenges, the integration of IoT-connected devices and real-time data analytics provides immense benefits for industries and businesses can deploy connected IoT sensors and devices to gather real-time data, allowing them to monitor operations, analyze productivity, and optimize processes for improved efficiency.
Real-Time Data Analytics and Predictive Maintenance for Operational Efficiency
This real-time data analytics enables businesses to transform raw data into actionable insights that allows companies to quickly respond to changes or issues and make adjustments that save resources and maintain productivity. Coupled with predictive maintenance – which uses machine learning models to predict equipment failure – these technologies help industries avoid downtime, optimize equipment usage, and streamline operations.
Industrial-Grade Solutions for Open Platforms
Given the challenges associated with deploying open platforms in industrial settings, a range of solutions specifically designed to bridge this gap have entered the market..png)
Figure: Sfera Labs’s Strato Pi, Iono Pi and Iono MKR are industrial-grade PLCs built on Raspberry Pi and Arduino technology, combining the flexibility of these open ecosystem with rugged features for industrial applications.
As an example, Sfera Labs’ Strato Pi, Iono PI and Iono MKR have been developed as industrial-grade hardware built on the Raspberry Pi and Arduino boards, with accompanying software solutions.
Such industrial adaptations will combine the flexibility of these open ecosystem products with more rugged features for industrial applications. In the case of the above products, isolated inputs and relay outputs, robust power management, and DIN-rail mounting have been implemented.
These enhancements effectively take these platforms to the point where “maker” technology can be integrated into applications that require higher durability and stability.
Conclusion:
Open hardware brings several benefits to companies seeking to automate industrial processes, significantly reducing the cost of deployment. But their use is not necessarily simple, and steps must be taken to ensure compliance with safety standards as well as their seamless integration with existing systems.
Industrial adaptations have made it onto the market to reduce these complications and allow open technology to be deployed more effectively and cost efficiently in industrial applications.
Giampiero Baggiani is a computer engineer, a maker, and a tech geek. He graduated from the Politecnico di Milano University with a BSc in Computer Engineering. He then moved to Sweden, where he completed his MSc in Secure and Dependable Computer Systems at Chalmers University while participating in a research group for formal methods applied to computer security. After his studies, he worked as a software engineer, focusing on systems integration for home and building automation.
