OptoBlog

Janice Colmer

Janice has worked at Opto 22 for nearly 20 years and is part of the marketing team that strives to share new and relevant content with the automation industry. She enjoys books, camping, country music, and spending time with family and friends.
Find me on:

Recent Posts

Scaling Success - Deploying IloT for Maximized ROI

Posted by Janice Colmer on Feb 14, 2024 9:42:20 AM

This previously-recorded IIoT World webinar provides tips on how the IIoT can help your business.

The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) is transforming industries worldwide, but many businesses hesitate to take the plunge. You're not alone if you're wondering how IIoT can help your business achieve its goals.

In a recent webinar hosted by IIoT World, a panel of industry experts discussed the challenges and benefits of IIoT investment and how to deploy IIoT solutions for maximized return on investment (ROI).

Read More

Topics: Webinars, IIoT, digital transformation

Join the OptoForums community

Posted by Janice Colmer on Feb 7, 2024 12:04:08 PM

Get great resources and tips from experienced Opto 22 product users—and help other users with your insights.

You’ll see the OptoForums mentioned here on the blog from time to time, and that's for good reason. The Forums have valuable technical advice, sample code, product feature discussions, and firmware release previews that you can't get anywhere else.

The OptoForums community just surpassed 10,000 members! A sincere thank you to all our valuable contributors. And if you're not already a member, now is the time to sign up or sign in with your MyOpto account. You can find the direct link under the Community tab on our website.

Read More

Topics: groov EPIC, groov RIO, OptoForum

Elevate your OT data securely to the cloud

Posted by Janice Colmer on Jan 31, 2024 12:37:25 PM

Watch how easy it is to securely connect real-world, OT data to Ignition Cloud Edition.

Good news! Our friends at Inductive Automation recently made all the presentations from the 2023 Ignition Community Conference available for public viewing. 

If you weren't able to join us last September in Folsom, California, then now's your chance to see one of the most attended sessions of the conference. 

In a fast-paced 35-minute demo, Opto 22's VP of Product Strategy, Benson Hougland, walks you through how to use groov EPIC, Ignition Edge, and Ignition Cloud Edition to quickly create scalable, high-performance, cybersecure architectures for democratizing your OT system’s data: Elevate your OT Data Securely to the Cloud.

Read More

Topics: Events & conferences, MQTT, Ignition Edge, groov EPIC, Ignition Cloud Edition

Where to see groov in action in 2024

Posted by Janice Colmer on Jan 31, 2024 12:30:54 PM

Visit Opto 22's Events page to see where you can find Opto engineers demonstrating groov products in 2024.

We're already a month into the new year and our calendar of events is filling up quickly. Opto 22 engineers, sales and marketing staff will be in attendance at various trade shows, conferences and participating in virtual webinars throughout the year.

Take a look at what's available online or in your area and plan to join us at one or more of these industry events. You'll have several opportunities to see live demos of groov EPIC and groov RIO.

Here's what's on the schedule so far.

Read More

Topics: Webinars, Events & conferences, groov EPIC, groov RIO

New case study: Production facility meets pandemic vaccine demand

Posted by Janice Colmer on Jan 25, 2024 9:05:46 AM

See how Zendal overcame multiple challenges of cybersecurity, incompatible equipment, lockdown, logistics, and remote teams.

During the year 2020, dozens of companies worldwide worked to develop vaccines for the pandemic-causing virus COVID-19. Biofabri, a subsidiary of Spanish international biopharmaceutical group Zendal, became responsible for industrial production of the antigen vaccine for most of Europe.

Their task was daunting. Somehow they would have to construct and automate a new fill-and-finish facility during a worldwide pandemic, in a country with one of the strictest lockdowns. Logistics were soon in chaos, with even basic supplies unavailable. Zendal had a variety of older equipment in place with incompatible controllers and individual HMIs. They also had no control over the make or model of PLCs that package suppliers would provide with new equipment. 

And towering over all other problems were issues of cybersecurity. 

Read More

Topics: Case studies, Ignition Edge, groov EPIC, cybersecurity

New year offers more groov EPIC training

Posted by Janice Colmer on Jan 25, 2024 8:58:34 AM

Opto 22 headquarters welcomed a new group of groov EPIC students to kick off 2024 training.

The value of in-person, instructor-led training at the Opto 22 factory and headquarters is evident after working with another great class of Opto students this week—all eager to become groov EPIC experts. And kudos, once again, to the team of Opto trainers who devote their time to developing a class curriculum that is beneficial for all levels of engineering and types of applications.

This month, students made the trip to California from Texas, Tennessee, Florida, Massachusetts, and parts of central California to attend and spend 4 days immersed in the groov EPIC system—learning all its features, capabilities, and programming options.

If you haven't attended training yet, we hope you can join us at one of our upcoming classes.

Read More

Topics: Training, groov EPIC, Factory Training

Need help with your automation project?

Posted by Janice Colmer on Jan 17, 2024 8:39:05 AM

Choose the OptoPartner you need from Opto 22's growing network of system integrators.

The newest members of the OptoPartner program come from all around the world. Take a look at the descriptions below and see if one might be a fit for your next project.

In projects verified by our engineers, these new partners have proven their engineering expertise and in-depth understanding of Opto 22 products, including groov EPIC and RIO.

We asked our new members to provide an overview of their companies, and here's what they had to say.

Read More

Topics: Integrators, IIoT, OptoPartner

groov RIO with CODESYS lessons now on OptoU

Posted by Janice Colmer on Jan 10, 2024 9:29:01 AM

Get free online instruction for using the CODESYS runtime engine on groov RIO in the new training series.

A customer favorite in 2023 was the groov RIO 3.5 firmware release. With this release, you could use the groov RIO edge I/O module as a controller with the CODESYS runtime engine onboard.

This was a game changer for many of our customers. Our Director of Technical Marketing, Dan White, even shared one of the first applications taking advantage of the new RIO 3.5 features in this CODESYS Tech Talk with Costa Farms.  It illustrated how the addition of CODESYS has transformed groov RIO into a full-fledged Edge PLC, opening up a world of possibilities for automation and control.

Now you can get a better understanding of how this new feature can work in your application by following along with some brand-new lessons on OptoU—Opto 22's free online training site. 

Read More

Topics: Training, CODESYS, OptoU, groov RIO

Case Study: Point Energy Partners

Posted by Janice Colmer on Jan 3, 2024 10:09:41 AM

Preventing spills and improving operational efficiency using Opto 22's groov RIO.

Texas-based Point Energy Partners (PEP) specializes in acquiring and developing onshore U.S. oil and gas properties with extensive experience working in major basins across the nation. PEP owns and operates the majority of the gathering and midstream assets for its operations, including its very large water recycling program, which showcases their commitment to sustainable and efficient resource management.

In an industry where every spill carries a hefty price tag, PEP found that the manual and low-tech systems at their water sites were a significant problem. These sites did not have a big budget for upgrades, so most control solutions on the market just wouldn’t fit the bill.

Read More

Topics: Case studies, MQTT, CODESYS, Sparkplug, groov RIO, oil and gas

Top 10 Videos of 2023

Posted by Janice Colmer on Jan 3, 2024 9:59:25 AM

Did you watch all of the 10 most popular videos on the Opto 22 YouTube channel in 2023?

If you're one of the over 27,000 subscribers who follow the OptoVideo channel on YouTube, you have first access to all the new video content we produce. Whether it's a new Node-RED developer video, product overview, or a technical how-to workshop, you get it all.

So what topics proved most useful (and popular) with our viewers last year? Let's review Opto 22's Top 10 Videos of 2023.

Read More

Topics: Videos, Node-RED, groov View, groov EPIC, groov Manage, groov RIO, YouTube

    Subscribe to Email Updates

    Recent Posts

    Posts by Topic

    see all