EPIC is more than just a name; it is an acronym describing the primary capabilities in the system. In this blog post, we’ll look more in depth at the P for programmability.

With today’s traditional PLC systems, you typically have one fixed development system with a limited set of tools. This is a burden that most engineers have had to suffer with. Oftentimes, you have to use inefficient workarounds to programmatically accomplish what is needed for different components of a given industrial automation application.

As the "P" in EPIC implies, we've added more Programming options to groov EPIC.  Our goal is for this Controller to be truly EPIC, and give developers and engineers multiple programming options on an Edge device, in addition to PAC Control, C/C++, Python, and more that's already available.  So, it's time to get excited about the future of EPIC, and discuss how developers can now get creative by using an IEC-61131-3 tool set for their applications.

Many automation engineers are familiar with the IEC 61131-3 standard, though you might not know it by that name. If you use ladder logic, you may be using one of the languages the standard defines.

Developed by the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), the standard defines the five accepted basic software architecture and programming languages of PLC control programming.

Of these five, one (Instruction List) has already been deprecated in the 3rd edition (61131-3). That leaves us with four languages, three graphical and one textual:

Working in systems integration often means putting on many hats. Sometimes you can just fulfill your normal duties of designing, building, and commissioning a controls/automation system.

But then other times you find yourself thrown into the mix as the sales estimator—asked to come up with a budgetary number for a project—or you’re deemed the “IT” person for a project.

Being designated the “IT” person can be a difficult road to navigate. Often you’re not truly an admin on any given network, but you’re asked to perform the duties of an admin.

The adage “what gets measured, gets managed” is an old one[1], and I had heard it many times, but a director of mine in a previous job put a new spin on it: “What gets measured, gets managed, gets improved.”