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ModBerry expands to the latest NanoPi & OrangePi platforms

Introduced in November 2017, the ModBerry M300 series, based on NanoPi NEO revolutionised the economic segment of Industrial IoT devices and proved, that automation and monitoring can be done effectively with low expenditure on industrial installations.

Read more: http://linuxgizmos.com/automation-controller-runs-linux-on-a-nanopi-neo-sbc/

https://www.cnx-software.com/2017/11/15/techbase-modberry%E2%80%8B-m300-linux-iot-gateway-%E2%80%8Bis-powered-by-nanopi-neo-board/

To ensure constant development of TECHBASE’s solutions and cutting-edge technology, the NanoPi platform part of ModBerry series is expanded by updated ModBerry M300 N2 product, based on NanoPi NEO2. The new addition features Quad-core Cortex-A53, twice more RAM than previous version of NanoPi NEO and Gigabit Ethernet for fast communication.

For even wider range of communication interfaces and application possibilities, TECHBASE offers now ModBerry M300 N2+ based on the NanoPi NEO Plus2. M300 N2+ is equipped with 8GB eMMC, features more USB ports, Gigabit Ethernet port like M300 N2 and is supported with onboard Wi-Fi/Blutetooth 4.0 to ensure many channels of data management.

ModBerry M300 series can optionally support an external 2.5″ SATA hard disk and 2242 SSD storage units with M.2 interface thanks to onboard JMS567 USB to SATA controller. With extra storage space, data management of specific installations would be more convenient than sending all unprocessed data into cloud or directly to user.

OrangePi capabilities

To meet the Industrial IoT market demands the ModBerry family joined new embedded computer platform, offering adjustable solutions for every industrial installation. ModBerry M300 O1/O2 series is formed by two OrangePi module boards offering different approach to IoT than NanoPi solutions.

ModBerry M300 O1 based on OrangePi Zero Plus features Allwinner H5 (Quad-core Cortex-A53) SoC, moderate 512MB RAM, storage memory option with microSD slot, USB and Gigabit Ethernet port. The wireless communication is supported with onboard Wi-Fi module.

Offering much higher performance and wider feature range, the ModBerry M300 O2 features same SoC as M300 series, but thanks to OrangePi Zero Plus2 means, the device is equipped with onboard 8GB eMMC, extra microSD expansion slot as alternative and wired/wireless interfaces, e.g. HDMI, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0.

ExCard modules to peak the performance

Every TECHBASE’s industrial computer is supported by ExCard add-on modules for extra RS-232/485 serial ports, Ethernet ports, PCIe slots, analog input and output, digital I/Os, relays, M-Bus interface, opto-isolation, accelerometer, etc. To provide specific communication paths, ModBerry can be rigged with additional Wi-Fi/Bluetooth module, 3G/LTE, NarrowBand-IoT, LoRa, ZigBee, GPS and Wireless M-Bus.

The latest options for ModBerry series are:

  • SuperCap expansion, to provide constant power supply as a UPS option
  • OLED 0.96” & new OLED 1,3″ screen, allowing the control without the need of connecting into the device
  • ESP32 module as a security chip, to add a firewall into control installation and ensure constant operation of the device, even with power drops and random events
  • Aluminum case, to grant much higher durability for extra harsh industrial conditions
  • Mentioned earlier SATA/M.2 SSD controller for extra data storage

The updated M300 availability

Currently all the updated M300 samples, including M300 N2, N2+, O1, O2 are available on demand. Please contact TECHBASE’s sales department via https://modberry.techbase.eu/ contact form with specific requirements to receive an offer that will suit the project’s needs. Since the M300 update is still under the development, specific datasheets will be available in mid-February. The pricing of each unit may vary on the basis of configuration and order quota.

ModBerry brings Compute Module 3 to next level of Industrial IoT

Introduced with Moduino series, TECHBASE developed further the project of modular aluminum case for their devices. The latest version of housing allows ModBerry to expand in any dimension, supporting additional extension cards (e.g. I/Os, modems, opto-isolation, accelerometer, etc.) and DIN rail mount, that can be retracted into device itself. TECHBASE constantly improves the project to support different platforms (e.g. Raspberry Pi Compute Module 3, NanoPi, ESP32, UpBoard and probably more in the nearest future) and brings them to Industrial IoT world.

Supercapacitor power support for ModBerry

To improve the possibilities of ModBerry devices, TECHBASE added supercapacitor UPS option for ModBerry 500 configurations. Additional power supply available at emergency situations, such as power drop or loss, allows the device to log the recently acquired data and send the notifications to user regarding the occurred event. The supercap support for ModBerry ensures safe system shutdown and protects memory from fragmenting, so there is no need to use diagnostic tools afterwards.

ModBerry enhanced with OLED screen

Just like ESP32-based Moduino series, the ModBerry computers can be now equipped with OLED 0.96″ 128×64 screen via i2c extension protocol. The is small, only about 1″ diameter, but very readable due to the high contrast of an OLED display. Because the display makes its own light, no backlight is required, therefore reduces the power required to run the OLED.

 

 

LORA MQTT: Perfect Couple – in RaspberryPi & ESP32 Ecosystem

TECHBASE Industrial Computers are designed for easy integration of LoRa / MQTT networks. ModBerry devices base on Raspberry Pi / NanoPi / Intel UpBoard platform communicate with both Cloud and Sensor layer (backed with ESP32 Moduino devices) of your installation via MQTT protocol. Gateway utilizes the features of many protocol libraries, such as original TECHBASE’s iMod protocol controller – installable both on the Gateway device itself or externally with wide range of possibilities (industrial computer, hosted server, etc.). Our devices fully support Node-RED, CODESYS, OpenHAB and many more open protocol libraries.

Wide range of protocol support

All TECHBASE’s solution can be empowered with iMod software incl. protocol support for industrial interfaces, e.g. M-Bus, Modbus, SNMP, MQTT. iMod software works seamlessly with Node-RED using MQTT protocol, allowing use of bacnet and direct control over devices I/Os with Google’s platform-neutral protobuf – extensible mechanism for serializing structured data and zeroMQ controls to connect the code in any modern language, on any platform. The protocol drivers library can be expanded with CODESYS development system to support PROFIBUS, CANopen, EtherCAT, PROFINET and EtherNet/IP.

iMod M-Bus, Wireless M-Bus, Modbus TCP/RTU, SNMP, MQTT, SMS, E-MAIL, SQL/CSV
CODESYS PROFIBUS, CANopen, EtherCAT, PROFINET, EtherNet/IP
Node-RED, etc. MQTT, bacnet, eISCP
OpenHAB Commercial product integration
Other open-source protocols IEC 61850, IEC 60870-5-104, DLMS/COSEM, KNX, eHz meters, IEC 62056-21, REST

 

 

New IoT Gateway based on NanoPi Neo

In October 2017 TECHBASE introduced newest economical addition to their M-Bus/Modbus Gateway family. Success of ModBerry 500 series based on Compute Module 3 and ModBerry M700 based on NanoPi M2 drove to further development of this efficient platform. TECHBASE proudly presents ModBerry M300 powered by NanoPi NEO.

    • CPU: Allwinner H3, Quad-core Cortex-A7 Up to 1.2GHz
    • DDR3 RAM: 512MB
    • Connectivity: 10/100M Ethernet, RS-232, RS-485
    • USB Host: ext. Type-A x1
    • Wireless communication: Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, LoRa, NB-IoT (LTE cat. NB1) /GPRS/EDGE, 3G/GPRS, ZigBee, Sigfox support
    • Working Temperature: -40℃ to 70℃
    • OS/Software: u-boot, UbuntuCore, Debian and Android

Download PDF datasheet: http://www.a2s.pl/products/ModBerry/ModBerry_M300_EN.pdf

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