This technical tip post covers the history and challenges of connecting RS-232 serial devices together.

The nice thing about standards is that there are so many to choose from. Like every profession, industrial automation has a veritable cornucopia of standards we need to be aware of. RS-232 is no different or special in that regard.

Let's take a look at the history of this hardware communication standard and use that as a springboard. We'll take a look at how modern microprocessor technology can be adapted to this very commonly used data communication standard in the industrial automation world.

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.

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.

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.

Take a look at using built-in Ignition software with groov EPIC in week 9 of the groov Manage series.

Here's a quick look at how you can run Ignition or Ignition Edge on the groov platform, using the groov Manage menu option.

Opto 22 has partnered with Inductive Automation for over 6 years now, and groov EPIC was the first hardware platform to onboard the Ignition Edge program. This natural partnership has been a real success story for both sets of customers the world over.

See what's behind the Ignition button on the groov Manage menu.

An easy-to-use tool for building a flexible HMI, included with your groov EPIC.

I don’t think I am going too far out on a limb by saying that the web browser is one of the most commonly installed and used software applications on any device. You might read this intro in your email app, but you will soon switch to a browser to read this blog. (I hope!)

So why stop at just viewing your SCADA HMI screens in a browser—why not build them there as well?

Enter the groov View menu option, the focus of this part 8 of our 12-part blog series on the groov Manage menu.

Move data where you need it with the Data Services menu, the latest in our 12-part video series on groov Manage.

Opto 22 was an early adopter of MQTT—implementing it right out of the gate when groov EPIC was released just over 5 years ago. And did you know that back in the day, Opto 22 was not only one of the founding members of OPC, but also that version 1.0 of the OPC specification was ratified around the granite table in the Opto 22 headquarters' conference room? 

With this history in mind, you'll see why we're excited to talk about the Data Service options you'll find in groov Manage. This is where you choose the methods and protocols to move your data where you need it. Follow along with groov Manage: Data Services.

Get Sparkplug 3.0 compliance, updated Node-RED, and new options for your groov EPIC controller.

The engineers at Opto 22 have been busy working around chip shortages and supply chain delays, yet even with those additional efforts, we're announcing the release of a new groov EPIC firmware update, version 3.5.

If I had to sum things up, I’d say a lot of really nice quality-of-life improvements and solid bug fixes were the key takeaways here.

Let's take a high-level look at some of the new features in this release.

Week 6 of the groov Manage video series brings you a detailed look at the control engines included with groov EPIC.

You might think we have a sleeper menu feature for this week's blog: only two buttons behind the Controller groov Manage menu option. Boring, right? Far from it! This is amazing! 

The fact that you can even choose between two control engine options is worth a pause. Learn what's possible in this week's groov Manage: Controller video.