48-Pin GPIO Connector

Rhino Pi A1 includes a 2x24-pin GPIO connector on board.

Danger

When using the 48-pin GPIO connector, pay attention to pin wiring and peripheral connections. Incorrect wiring may damage the hardware.

48-Pin 3.3V GPIO Expansion Connector

The Rhino Pi A1 includes a 2x24-pin interface that provides flexible expansion support for hardware. Users can connect sensors, communication modules, displays, and other embedded peripherals via this interface for rapid prototyping in IoT, robotics control, and industrial automation.

The 48-pin 3.3V GPIO expansion connector includes the following functions:

Category	Interface	Description
Signal conversion	CAN interface	2 CAN FD channels
Signal conversion	RS485	1 RS485 channel
Signal conversion	RS232	2 RS232 channels
Signal conversion	Optocoupler	2 inputs, 2 outputs, 5-30V range
Reserved signal interface	I2S	1 channel
Reserved signal interface	SPI	1 channel
Reserved signal interface	DEBUG UART	1 channel
Reserved signal interface	UART	1 channel
Reserved signal interface	GPIO	5 channels
Reserved signal interface	5V	1 channel
Reserved signal interface	3.3V	1 channel

Basic Interface Tests

GPIO

GPIO Introduction

General-purpose input/output (GPIO) pins are non-specialized digital pins on an integrated circuit or electronic board (such as MCU/MPU). They can be used as inputs or outputs and are controlled by software.

Preparation

• Rhino Pi A1
• Multimeter
• Open-source tool gpiod

sudo apt update
sudo apt install gpiod libgpiod2 libgpiod-dev

Connection

This example uses the 5V pin (GPIO117) on the Rhino Pi A1 48-pin connector.

• Turn on the multimeter and set it to the DC voltage 10V range.
• Connect the multimeter red probe to the 5V pin (GPIO117) on the Rhino Pi A1.
• Connect the multimeter black probe to the Rhino Pi A1 GND pin.

Test

• Output high level:

sudo gpioset /dev/gpiochip3 117=1

Observe approximately 5V on the multimeter.

• Output low level:

sudo gpioset /dev/gpiochip3 117=0

Observe approximately 0V on the multimeter.

More Interface Applications

For more 48 PIN interface applications please refer to 48 PIN Pin Application.