Sequent Microsystems' Latest Raspberry Pi HAT Adds Up to 64 24-Bit Analog Inputs
Configurable up to ±24V, these eight-input Hardware Attached on Top (HAT) boards are stackable up to eight deep.
Sequent Microsystems is crowdfunding production of its latest Raspberry Pi accessory, and this time it's targeting anyone who needs a large number of high-resolution analog inputs — offering eight 24-bit inputs per board, stackable up to 64 inputs per Raspberry Pi.
"This powerful, precision-engineered board is designed to take your Raspberry Pi projects to the next level, enabling high-accuracy data acquisition for a wide range of applications," says Sequent Microsystems' Mihai Beffa of his company's latest creation. "Whether you’re building a weather station, a robotics platform, a home automation system, or a professional-grade industrial monitoring solution, this HAT is your gateway to unparalleled precision and flexibility."
Out-of-the-box, the Raspberry Pi family of single-board computers — not to be confused with the Raspberry Pi Pico family of microcontroller boards — includes a flexible 40-pin general-purpose input/output (GPIO) header with plenty of functionality, but no option for analog signal capture. Sequent's latest board design fixes that, adding a pair of Texas Instruments ADS131 24-bit delta-sigma analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) to deliver an impressive eight inputs — each of which can be configured in software to a specific input range from ±180mV up to ±24V.
If eight inputs isn't enough, the board — like many of Sequent's Raspberry Pi accessories — is stackable. Up to eight boards can be connected to a single Raspberry Pi, delivering a total of 64 independent 24-bit analog inputs. The board includes two power inputs, 5V or 12-24V, and supplies 4A continuous and 5A peak power to the connected Raspberry Pi.
The boards also include an RS485/MODBUS port for industrial communication, a hardware watchdog capable of power-cycling the Raspberry Pi, and a battery-backed real-time clock (RTC) — and only uses the I2C pins of the GPIO header, leaving all other pins free for other hardware.
Sequent Microsystems is currently crowdfunding for the board's production on Kickstarter, with rewards starting at $130 for a single board — a claimed 10 percent discount over the planned retail price. Devices are expected to begin shipping in April this year, the company says.