Uploaded June 2019 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
A fresh new look at the world of Raspberry PI based Industrial Controllers and Remote IO integration
The Brainboxes were sent to me by Brainboxes out of the UK for review and testing, the thing I like most is the distributed nature of these products, they dont have to be stacked up to the main controller to function, they can be over 1KM away connected by RS485 or anywhere in the world connected by Ethernet
Each module can stand alone and be controlled or interrogated by a remote system using industry standard protocols like Modbus or Rest APIs etc.
Programming is very open supporting MS .NET, PHP, Java, Scripting, etc. basically anything that can create a web socket or rest call or that supports Modbus TCP or Modbus Serial.
The newest module from Brainboxes is the BB-400, a Raspberry PI 3+ compute module (32GB EMMC) based controller. it sports 8 IO lines, Dual supply (5 to 30V) , dual Ethernet ports and RS232/422/485, WIFI, Bluetooth, UPS, NFC, Offloaded IO control via an Arduino programmable controller (ATMEGA 32U4)
Node-Red is installed by default on the BB-400 and has example flows pre configured.
All modules have Ethernet and can be interfaced through many languages and protocols. All run from 5-30V DC (Nominal 24V supply) and all are configurable using freely available utilities.
In this video I will overview the modules and open them up for a closer look.
For more information follow the links below
brainboxes.com
Datasheets can be found here for the various modules I will be reviewing
NeuronEdge Smart Controller for Industry 4
brainboxes.com/files/catalog/product/BB/BB-400/documents/BB-400-datasheet.pdf
ETHERNET TO Digital IO 16 Outputs
brainboxes.com/files/catalog/product/ED/ED-527/documents/ED-527-datasheet.pdf
Ethernet to Digital I/O 8/8
brainboxes.com/files/catalog/product/ED/ED-588/documents/ED-588-datasheet.pdf
ETHERNET TO SERIAL DEVICE SERVER
brainboxes.com/files/catalog/product/ES/ES-522/documents/ES-522-datasheet.pdf
Industrial 5 Port Ethernet Switch
brainboxes.com/files/catalog/product/SW/SW-505/documents/SW-505-datasheet.pdf
Ethernet to Digital I/O +RS232 +Switch
brainboxes.com/files/catalog/product/ED/ED-204/documents/ED-204-datasheet.pdf
Ethernet to Analogue I/O
brainboxes.com/files/catalog/product/ED/ED-549/documents/ED-549-datasheet.pdf
These can be sourced from many locations including RS-Components and Element 14, see here
brainboxes.com/where-to-buy
A fresh new look at the world of Raspberry PI based Industrial Controllers and Remote IO integration
The Brainboxes were sent to me by Brainboxes out of the UK for review and testing, the thing I like most is the distributed nature of these products, they dont have to be stacked up to the main controller to function, they can be over 1KM away connected by RS485 or anywhere in the world connected by Ethernet
Each module can stand alone and be controlled or interrogated by a remote system using industry standard protocols like Modbus or Rest APIs etc.
Programming is very open supporting MS .NET, PHP, Java, Scripting, etc. basically anything that can create a web socket or rest call or that supports Modbus TCP or Modbus Serial.
The newest module from Brainboxes is the BB-400, a Raspberry PI 3+ compute module (32GB EMMC) based controller. it sports 8 IO lines, Dual supply (5 to 30V) , dual Ethernet ports and RS232/422/485, WIFI, Bluetooth, UPS, NFC, Offloaded IO control via an Arduino programmable controller (ATMEGA 32U4)
Node-Red is installed by default on the BB-400 and has example flows pre configured.
All modules have Ethernet and can be interfaced through many languages and protocols. All run from 5-30V DC (Nominal 24V supply) and all are configurable using freely available utilities.
In this video I will overview the modules and open them up for a closer look.
For more information follow the links below
brainboxes.com
Datasheets can be found here for the various modules I will be reviewing
NeuronEdge Smart Controller for Industry 4
brainboxes.com/files/catalog/product/BB/BB-400/documents/BB-400-datasheet.pdf
ETHERNET TO Digital IO 16 Outputs
brainboxes.com/files/catalog/product/ED/ED-527/documents/ED-527-datasheet.pdf
Ethernet to Digital I/O 8/8
brainboxes.com/files/catalog/product/ED/ED-588/documents/ED-588-datasheet.pdf
ETHERNET TO SERIAL DEVICE SERVER
brainboxes.com/files/catalog/product/ES/ES-522/documents/ES-522-datasheet.pdf
Industrial 5 Port Ethernet Switch
brainboxes.com/files/catalog/product/SW/SW-505/documents/SW-505-datasheet.pdf
Ethernet to Digital I/O +RS232 +Switch
brainboxes.com/files/catalog/product/ED/ED-204/documents/ED-204-datasheet.pdf
Ethernet to Analogue I/O
brainboxes.com/files/catalog/product/ED/ED-549/documents/ED-549-datasheet.pdf
These can be sourced from many locations including RS-Components and Element 14, see here
brainboxes.com/where-to-buy
