Main Content

PiCon One

PiCon One is a multi-function controller for home automation and industrial use cases.

Picon One is a multi-function controller based on smallest member of the Raspberry family, the Raspberry Pi Zero W. Instead of adding a “hat” on top of the Raspberry, I reversed the roles: The Pi becomes the “hat” for the controller’s mainboard. The board is designed to fit into an industrial enclosure for environmental protection, combining input, output and communication ports into a single functional unit that can be tailored for a range of use cases.

PiCon One is a multi-function controller for automation and industrial use cases. Instead of juggling multiple hats, I wanted an integrated device with environmental protection. The result is a controller board integrating the Raspberry Pi Zero W, fitted into a industrial enclosure from Takachi.

The enclosure is rated IP65, making the controller “dust tight” and protected against water spray. This should let it operate 24x7 in less ideal environments.

What functions does it have?
The first design iteration has below set of devices:

DS3231 battery-buffered realtime clock (RTC)
2x additional serial ports via 16S752
320x480 TFT display
2x 4-digit 7-segment LED modules
4x pushbuttons
2x programmable status LEDs
GPS module interface
XBee Zigbee module interface
Serial console port connector
flexible power options
UPS-style Lipo battery backup”

Link to article