RS Components offers intelligent industrial automation modules

This range of solutions, based on Raspberry Pi technology, targets industrial IoT applications.

RS Components (RS), the trading brand of Electrocomponents plc (LSE: ECM), a global multichannel distributor, announces that KUNBUS has joined its list of suppliers. KUNBUS specializes in the development of intelligent communication modules, including automation components that interface with Ethernet networks and industrial fieldbuses.

Fourteen new KUNBUS product lines are now being marketed by RS: industrial computers, programmable logic controllers, data acquisition systems and human-machine interfaces (HMIs). The open-source, modular industrial PCs in the Revolution Pi range, based on the popular Raspberry Pi platform, are among KUNBUS's flagship products. This innovative and highly reliable modular system complies with the international standard EN61131-2 for programmable controllers. It includes the RevPi Connect, RevPi Core and RevPi Core 3 central processing units. Housed in DIN rail enclosures and equipped with USB, Ethernet and HDMI interfaces, these products are based on the Raspberry Pi Compute module. They are therefore compatible with the Raspberry Pi model 3 or the Raspberry Pi B+. Depending on the requirements of the application, the functionality of these modules can be seamlessly extended with suitable digital or analog I/O modules, as well as fieldbus gateways that allow them to be connected to an industrial network.

Thanks to the openness of its platform, the RevPi Connect gateway gives users maximum freedom to implement connected industrial projects (IIoT, or Industrial Internet of Things), including full root rights. Implemented as a DIN rail PC or as a simple compact control unit, the system uses a specially modified version of the Raspbian operating system with a real-time patch, and supports common IIoT protocols such as MQTT and OPC UA. Applications can be programmed in a variety of languages such as Node-RED, Python, or directly in C.

The RevPi Connect can also integrate PROFINET, Ethernet IP, EtherCAT, Modbus TCP and Modbus RTU communication capabilities without the need for expansion modules. Its Ethernet interfaces allow it to be integrated into IT and automation networks and to transmit data from the production environment to, for example, a cloud platform.

?The KUNBUS Revolution Pi is an innovative range of communication modules based on Raspberry Pi computing technology,? said James Milne, Portfolio Manager at RS. ?This remarkable, open-source and highly modular platform can offer many of our customers a low-cost way to connect their automation processes and thus benefit from the industrial IoT.?

KUNBUS's range of industrial communication modules, including the Revolution PI series, is now marketed by RS in the EMEA and Asia-Pacific regions.