RedBoard+ Offers All-in-One Robotics Support in a Compact Raspberry Pi pHAT Design
Two H-bridges, support for up to 12 servos, and even an RGB LED that can flash an IP address — the RedBoard+ ticks a lot of boxes.
RedRobotics, the Surry, UK-based hobbyist robotics specialist, has launched the RedBoard+, which the company bills as an "easy to use" yet also "fully-featured" robotics add-on board for the Raspberry Pi family of single-board computers.
Designed, the company explains, to fill a gap in the market not served by existing robotics boards, the RedBoard + includes a wealth of features. Powered by a 7-24 volt battery input, which then passes through a 5.2V 3A power supply for the Raspberry Pi on which it is installed, the board design includes a 3.3V 800mA regulator, two 6A H-bridges for motor control, a four-channel 5V level shifter for add-on hardware such as addressable LEDs, a four-channel analogue to digital converter (ADC) with one channel used for battery monitoring, and an on-board RGB LED.
As well as the motors connected to the H-bridges, the board can directly drive up to 12 hobby servos — or larger, more robust servos connected to an external power supply and includes four I2C breakout headers for additional hardware, RX and TX headers for serial communications, and "plenty of ground and power pins" — as well as a programmable switch which can be used to safely shut down the connected Raspberry Pi or trigger any program of the user's choosing.
On the software front, RedRobotics includes a Python library as well as a preconfigured microSD card image which bundles additional scripts - including ones for safely shutting the Raspberry Pi down when the battery level reaches critical, displaying the battery level on the RGB LED, and even communicating the Raspberry Pi's IP address using the RGB LED.
The code behind the RedBoard+ can be found on the RedRobotics GitHub repository, while the boards themselves are available to order from Tindie for $38.