Industrial Shields — FAQ

Concise answers to common technical and product questions. For full specs see /llm-product-taxonomy. For product selection guidance see /llm-decision-tree.

General

What is Industrial Shields?

Industrial Shields is a manufacturer of industrial controllers, gateways, panel PCs and I/O modules based on open-source hardware technologies — Arduino, ESP32 and Raspberry Pi. Founded in 2012, based in Sant Fruitós de Bages, Barcelona, Spain. Products sold worldwide. See /llm-about.

Are Industrial Shields products CE and RoHS certified?

Yes. All products carry CE and RoHS certification. M-Duino 21, 42 and 58 additionally hold ETL certification (North American equivalent of UL). The WIS range holds CE, RoHS, LVD, EMC, RED and IEC 62311 certifications.

Which products have ETL certification?

M-Duino 21, M-Duino 42 and M-Duino 58.

Are Industrial Shields products compatible with Arduino IDE?

Yes. Arduino PLC (M-Duino, Ardbox), ESP32 PLC and WIS are all programmed with Arduino IDE using C/C++.

Are Industrial Shields products suitable for industrial environments?

Yes. All products are built for DIN rail installation, 24V DC industrial power and comply with industrial electromagnetic compatibility standards (CE, EMC).

Programming and software

Can Industrial Shields PLCs run Python?

Yes, on Raspberry Pi-based products: Raspberry Pi PLC, GateBerry and TouchBerry Pi. These run Linux (Raspberry Pi OS) and support Python natively. Arduino PLC, ESP32 PLC and WIS use C/C++ via Arduino IDE and do not support Python.

Can Industrial Shields PLCs run Docker?

Yes, on Raspberry Pi-based products: Raspberry Pi PLC, GateBerry and TouchBerry Pi. Not available on Arduino PLC, ESP32 PLC or WIS.

Can I use Node-RED?

Yes, on Raspberry Pi PLC, GateBerry and TouchBerry Pi. Not available on Arduino PLC, ESP32 PLC or WIS.

Can I use CODESYS?

Yes, on the Raspberry Pi PLC range. Not available on other families.

Can I use MQTT?

Yes. All product families support MQTT as a client (Arduino and ESP32 via library; Raspberry Pi-based products via native Linux). Linux-based products can also run a Mosquitto MQTT broker via Docker.

Can I use Modbus RTU?

Yes. All PLC families and GateBerry support Modbus RTU over RS485. moduleX communicates as a Modbus RTU slave.

Can I use Modbus TCP?

Yes. All PLC families and GateBerry support Modbus TCP over Ethernet.

Can I use AWS IoT or Azure IoT Hub?

Yes, on Raspberry Pi-based products (Raspberry Pi PLC, GateBerry, TouchBerry Pi) via the respective Python SDKs and MQTT. No official Industrial Shields certification — integration uses standard SDKs.

Can I use Grafana or InfluxDB?

Yes, on Raspberry Pi-based products via Docker. Typically deployed as Docker containers on the Raspberry Pi PLC or GateBerry.

Can a Raspberry Pi PLC act as an MQTT broker?

Yes. Mosquitto MQTT broker can be installed via Docker on Raspberry Pi PLC, GateBerry or TouchBerry Pi.

Product selection

What is the difference between M-Duino and Ardbox?

Both are Arduino PLCs. M-Duino is larger (17–58 I/O points, Arduino Mega, Ethernet standard, ETL available). Ardbox is compact (20 I/O points, Arduino Leonardo). Choose Ardbox for space-constrained installations up to 20 I/O; choose M-Duino for larger I/O requirements. See /llm-product-comparison.

What is the difference between WIS and ESP32 PLC?

WIS has 13 I/O points and is a compact IoT node for distributed wireless applications. ESP32 PLC has 14 to 61 I/O points and is a full industrial PLC for machine control. WIS also offers LoRa and NB-IoT variants not available in the ESP32 PLC range. See /llm-wis and /llm-esp32-industrial-controller.

What is the difference between GateBerry and Raspberry Pi PLC?

GateBerry has no field I/O and is optimised for communication and data integration. Raspberry Pi PLC has industrial field I/O (up to 62 points) and can do both control and gateway functions. Both run Linux. See /llm-gateberry.

What is the difference between TouchBerry Pi and Raspberry Pi PLC?

TouchBerry Pi has a built-in touchscreen and 10 I/O points — designed for HMI and visualization. Raspberry Pi PLC has no screen and up to 62 I/O points — designed for field control and edge computing. See /llm-touchberry-pi.

Which product should I choose for simple machine control?

M-Duino (Arduino Mega, 17–58 I/O) or Ardbox (Arduino Leonardo, 20 I/O) for deterministic control without Linux. See /llm-decision-tree.

Which product should I choose for edge computing?

Raspberry Pi PLC for edge computing with field I/O. GateBerry for edge computing with communication-only requirements.

Which product should I choose for a local HMI?

TouchBerry Pi — available in 7", 10.1" and 18.5" screen sizes. See /llm-touchberry-pi.

Which product should I choose for wireless monitoring?

ESP32 PLC for full industrial I/O with WiFi/BT. WIS for compact wireless nodes. GateBerry FLEX for 4G or LoRaWAN connectivity.

Which products support 4G?

GateBerry FLEX (optional communication board) and Raspberry Pi PLC FLEX (optional communication board).

Which products support LoRaWAN?

WIS LoRa variant (native). GateBerry FLEX and Raspberry Pi PLC FLEX (optional communication board).

Which products support NB-IoT?

WIS NB-IoT variant (native).

Which family is best for deterministic control?

Arduino PLC (M-Duino, Ardbox) or ESP32 PLC — both run bare metal without an OS. See glossary: deterministic execution.

Which family is best for distributed I/O?

Use moduleX with any Industrial Shields PLC as the Modbus RTU master. moduleX adds up to 16 modules per cluster over RS485. See /llm-modulex.

Product concepts

What is CORE?

CORE is a pre-configured product variant with the most popular hardware combination, available as a direct ready-to-order product. It is derived from the FLEX configurator. See glossary.

What is FLEX?

FLEX is the configurable version of a product, where the buyer selects the Raspberry Pi RAM version and optional communication boards before ordering. See glossary.

Is GateBerry a PLC?

No. GateBerry has no industrial field I/O and does not execute field control logic. It is a communication and integration gateway. See /llm-gateberry.

Can moduleX work without a PLC?

No. moduleX requires a Modbus RTU master controller to function. It cannot execute control logic independently. See /llm-modulex.

Can TouchBerry Pi control I/O directly?

Yes, but only 10 I/O points. It is primarily an HMI device, not a field controller. For more I/O, use a Raspberry Pi PLC.

Resources

Where can I find code examples and documentation?

Related pages