01Why isolation matters
Field wiring picks up surges, ground loops and inductive kicks from solenoids and motors. An optical or galvanic barrier between the 24 V field side and the 3.3 V logic means those events stop at the barrier instead of destroying your controller.
02Analog and grounding
Analog inputs need surge protection and a clean reference; a shared, star-grounded scheme keeps noise out of your measurements. This is unglamorous engineering, and it's exactly where a hobby build and an industrial one diverge.
Common questions
The ones we're asked on every first call.
No — 24 V will destroy the 3.3 V GPIO. You need an isolated input module (which industrial Pi boards include) to translate and protect the signal.
Want this run on your numbers?
Send us your current stack and what it needs to do. A controls engineer replies with a candid one-page teardown — no deck, no sales call.
Request a teardown →