New case study shows how StrataVu and groov EPIC secure a flexible future for Oil & Gas production.

When the hardware for the automation system you’ve deployed throughout your entire installed base is suddenly declared end-of-life, you’re faced with a problem. That’s what happened to Apex Energy LLC, a natural gas exploration and production company, headquartered just outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

As a longtime customer of systems integrator and Opto technology partner Strata Innovative Solutions, Apex had used Strata’s field-proven PadPro automation solution starting with their second drilling site, or well pad. They were happy with the solution. But in 2019-2020, manufacturers of the hardware components began to end-of-life their products. For their planned growth, Apex needed a new solution that would offer as seamless a transition as possible.

Partnership gives you simple solutions for remote equipment, cloud connections, brownfield applications, and more.

This week has been a busy one for the Opto 22 team at the annual Ignition Community Conference, hosted by Inductive Automation. It was also the perfect time to share some exciting news with our customers and media partners about our IA partnership status. Opto 22 has now been named a Solution Partner.

Everyone knows it’s all about the cloud—and the IIoT gateway is the critical component to getting all your real-world data to that cloud. And it matters. Without it, there’s no: big data, cloud computing, advanced analytics, AI, machine learning, and the list goes on… 

At Opto 22, we have a 50 year history of helping you collect and store real-world data. We know the cloud is where you want that data. So when we designed our sleek, rugged, industrial-grade I/O that lasts a lifetime, we also made them IIoT gateways.

Don't miss the Opto 22 live demonstrations and sessions taking place at the 2023 Ignition Community Conference.

Do you have your ticket to the Ignition Community Conference? This three-day event takes place September 26 - 28, 2023, in Folsom, CA, and it just sold out! But don't worry, you can still be part of the action by purchasing a Livestream pass.

This annual event, hosted by our technology partner Inductive Automation, grows in popularity each year as the number of Ignition software applications grows worldwide. The conference promises:

• Global networking with the IA team as well as Ignition Community members
• Learning opportunities through keynote speakers, expert panels, table talks, and breakout sessions
• Interactive demos and use case presentations from exhibitors

This year, the Opto 22 team returns as a sponsor and exhibitor and will be conducting live demonstrations and sessions you won't want to miss. Whether attending in person or with a livestream pass, don't forget to add the following presentations to your schedule (note that the Exhibitor Demo will not be live-streamed):

The maintenance button on the groov Manage screen helps keep your groov device in tip-top shape.

You update your cell phone for new features and security patches, so why not your automation system as well? This blog post and video closes out our 12-part groov Manage series on the top-level groov Manage home screen options.

See what's behind the groov Manage: Maintenance button.

Here at Opto 22, we keep our ear to the ground on all things automation. When we heard the industry’s demand for a versatile I/O package, we responded—thus, groov RIO was born. Since then, we’ve upped the ante with tools for onboard control (enter: Node-Red and Python) and more communication methodologies (hey there, MQTT, OPC UA, and Ignition).

And with our latest advancement, we’ve really done it: added a sophisticated real-time engine.

What's under the Info & Help button? Part 11 of the 12-part groov Manage series delves into the details.

When it comes to menu options, are you allowed to have favorites?

There is just so much cool stuff behind the "Info & Help" button for all things automation—I'm just going to start at the top and bullet point my way down the nine buttons. I could easily blog about each of the nine because of the power of each.

But you'll get a condensed summary in groov Manage: Info & Help.

The latest 3.5 firmware updates for groov EPIC and RIO include new Sparkplug 3 compatible certification.

groov products have always supported the MQTT and Sparkplug communication protocols, so what's important about this latest Sparkplug update?

groov EPIC and RIO are some of the few hardware devices to pass a series of tests for the Sparkplug Compatibility Program, managed by the Eclipse Foundation.

Find out what's behind the Node-RED button on the groov Manage home screen.

In this week's edition of our 12-part groov Manage journey, we take a look at Node-RED. This low-code/no-code programming tool is a popular feature of groov EPIC and groov RIO.

Our engineers love all aspects of technology, so it's no surprise to learn that many of them were tinkering with Node-RED at home before bringing their excitement to work.  After some roundtable discussions on just how much Javascript coding was required (hint: as little or as much as you want), we decided to embed Node-RED into our product range and future hardware devices.

Watch groov Manage: Node-RED to see why Node-RED is so popular with groov EPIC and RIO customers.

The latest groov RIO 3.5 firmware update offers a CODESYS programming option along with enhancements for performance and security.

groov RIO firmware 3.5 is here! And the big news is the CODESYS runtime engine has been added. That means now you can run a control program on groov RIO—one you build in CODESYS using any of the IEC 61131-3 compliant languages.

The engineers have kept their fingers on the keyboard here at Opto HQ and are beyond excited about the release of version 3.5 firmware for the groov RIO family. We can't wait to see what applications our awesome customers come up with, now that the CODESYS runtime engine has been added to the complete groov RIO Trio.