For IoT projects and applications it is often required to aquire real world data (distance, humidity, filling level, etc.). Most sensors that connect to Raspberry Pi (e.g. over single wire interface) do the job, but are not ruggadized enough for long term use. For these applications, industrial sensors are perfect, but they lack easy connection to the Raspberry Pi.
One industry standard is IO-Link, with over 20,000 different device types (not only sensors but also small HMIs, buttons, signal lights, etc.) available. These smart devices use standardized communication. However, to connect them, a driver (hardware) and a communication stack (software) are needed.
The IOL HAT provides both hardware and software to connect to Raspberry Pi over SPI. It also features an API that can be accessed by the user application over binary TCP, so the user does not need to care about the details of the IO-Link protocol.
The project is featured on CrowdSupply!