Back Panel for Raspberry Pi Industrial Automation

Traditionally, Raspberry Pi I/O expansion has relied on the HAT (Hardware Attached on Top) specification, introduced by the Raspberry Pi Foundation. While suitable for hobbyist and small-scale automation projects, HATs have major limitations for industrial use. To address these limitations, Sequent Microsystems introduces Raspberry Pi HOP (Hardware On Panel) cards, designed specifically for industrial applications.

The Sequent Microsystems Back Panel represents a major shift for Raspberry Pi–based industrial systems. It replaces limited vertical stacking with unlimited horizontal I/O expansion, simplifying both wiring and system layout. The back panel includes multiple serial interfaces, a real-time clock, and a hardware watchdog. It can support existing HATs via a compact adapter and natively accepts new open-source I/O cards designed for the panel.

This platform offers a clean, scalable, and standardized foundation for developing, programming, and testing industrial I/O systems powered by the Raspberry Pi or any other pin-compatible single board computer.