torxHAT — Thesis Release
This release captures the torxHAT board design as submitted alongside Raiko Torga's bachelor's thesis at the University of Tartu, for use within the Robotic Study Companion (RSC) platform.
Artefact
A compact two-layer Raspberry Pi HAT providing pass-through GPIO and a flexible audio-HAT mounting interface, designed in KiCad. The board removes the RSC's dependency on any single audio HAT and consolidates power delivery and peripheral connectivity onto a single carrier.
Key characteristics
- USB-C Power Delivery input negotiated at 20 V / 2.5 A
- Two independent 5.1 V buck-regulated rails: a logic rail (Pi, audio hardware, display) and an isolated high-current rail (servos, LED ring)
- Pass-through 40-pin GPIO header preserving compatibility with the Raspberry Pi HAT specification
- Verified mechanical and electrical compatibility with: AIY Voice Bonnet, AIY Voice HAT, ReSpeaker 2-Mics pHAT, WM8960 Audio HAT, Adafruit Voice Bonnet, and Whisplay HAT
Contents
KiCad project: schematic (with hierarchical sub-sheets for USB-PD, buck conversion, and voice routing), PCB layout, design rules, and a 3D top-view render.
Licence
Hardware design licensed under CERN-OHL-W v2. See LICENSE for the full text and the README for the accompanying notice.
How to cite this release
Torga, R. (2026). torxHAT: a compact 2-layer Pi HAT for the Robotic Study Companion platform (Rev A) [Hardware design files]. University of Tartu. https://github.com/RobotStudyCompanion/torxHAT/releases/tag/Rev-A
Full Changelog: https://github.com/RobotStudyCompanion/torxHAT/commits/Rev-A