Dr. de Haas, how is the Kunbus mini computer equipped and what are the differences to the original 'Raspberry Pi'?

Dr. de Haas: Our Revolution Pi Core uses the computer module from Raspberry Pi. This is essentially the Broadcom SoC and an eMMC memory. All the peripherals, on the other hand, were designed by us and made suitable for industrial use. As our system uses Raspbian as its operating system, it is largely software-compatible with the original Raspberry B+. The usual pin header with its GPIO, I2C, UART and SPI interfaces is not to be found, as this would not be suitable for industrial use. Housed in a top-hat rail housing, the base module of the Revolution Pi, called RevPi-Core, already has USB, Ethernet and HDMI connections. Depending on customer requirements, it can be supplemented with digital or analog I/O modules and suitable fieldbus gateways for connection to an industrial network. The base and expansion modules are supplied with the 24 volts that are standard in the industry. More important than these hardware components, however, are the services on the Internet, with which customers can access devices not only in the LAN but also in the WAN or process data in the cloud.

Why open source? What is 'open'?

Dr. de Haas: We disclose all circuit diagrams and source codes of the Revolution Pi modules. We keep all information available on our platform and in a video channel to enable our community to develop their own ideas as much as possible. There will also be a maker set in the store with components that you can't get from the distributor around the corner, such as housings or special connectors.

What role does the community concept play?

Dr. de Haas: With our concept, we want to give all customers the opportunity to invent their own software and hardware for the platform. The community plays a central role in this. But we also enable companies to participate through collaborations. We already have collaborations with partners that range from SMS and TTS messengers to big data analysis in the cloud and data distribution within the company. Of course, we also have partners for soft PLCs and SCADA.

As a manufacturer, we are open to the cooperation of our community. We want to consciously dissolve the boundaries between B2B and B2C and see every customer as a partner with whom we can work together to create new solutions and ways to make the fourth industrial revolution a reality. Together, we want to develop concepts for how value can be created in the cloud in the future, because that is where the gold of tomorrow is buried. Why only earn money once with the sale of hardware or software when we can generate continuous revenue with services on the internet? Start-ups have long understood this, and more and more are opening their eyes to this change.

What is the typical user group?

Dr. de Haas: We deliberately left that open. In our minds at the beginning, it was mainly the customer who was looking for an inexpensive EN61131-2-compliant, internet-capable controller that can also do fieldbus. However, the initial reactions showed us that we were thinking far too narrowly. Many interested parties from industry simply want to use the RevPi Core as a small, inexpensive Linux IPC with their own software. The inquiries range from the energy industry to the food industry and the automotive sector. Automation is just one part of the application. With a further Revolution Pi Home product family and wireless connectivity, we will then turn our attention increasingly to building technology in 2017, which has also already shown strong interest.