Learn how setting up VPN (virtual private network) configurations can help you securely connect to your remote devices.

In our latest video VPN configuration on groov devices using OpenVPN, you'll get a breakdown of the high-level configuration of VPNs and also a detailed walkthrough of the process.

But first, in this blog post, let's discuss the pain of secure remote connectivity and the gains that setting up a VPN can bring.

Get a behind-the-scenes look at Opto 22's journey from render to reality for the demo panels built specifically for the Ignition Community Conference Build-a-Thon.

In early 2022, Benson Hougland (Opto 22 VP of Marketing and Product Strategy) called the Opto team together and said “I’ve got a great project for us, and you're going to love it...the ICC Build-a-Thon!”

Undeniably "the premier event in competitive SCADA," the ICC Build-a-Thon is the major highlight of the annual Inductive Community Conference (ICC), organized by Inductive Automation and held every year in Folsom, CA. It is a showcase and live competition for system integrators who use Ignition software, a platform for building industrial automation and control systems.

Learn about some of the changes and benefits of Node-RED 3.1.7 included with the recent groov EPIC 3.6 firmware release.

Node-RED 3.1.7 has many useful new features and quality-of-life improvements—mainly to the editor itself. A great example is that the flow tabs at the top of the editor now indicate when they contain a change that has not been deployed. This simple addition clarifies what will be restarted when you choose among deploying modified nodes, modified flows, or a full deploy.

Let's talk about what other welcome additions you'll find in Node-RED in the latest 3.6 firmware release of groov EPIC.

Beyond data transactions, understanding the relationship between clients and servers plays a significant role in cybersecurity.

What makes a device fill the role of a server or client? And, more importantly, how can you use that information to strengthen your network security and mitigate insecurities?

The best place to start with this topic is to loosely define what makes software act as a server or as a client. But throughout this blog, keep in mind that the two are not mutually exclusive—some devices can be both a server and a client. When playing the role of a server the key trait is that the server device is always listening.

Learn more about the Opto Memory Map Protocol—a powerful method of interacting with Opto 22 controllers

OptoMMP works with everything from SNAP PAC brains to the latest groov products. Let's go over some of the basics about what OptoMMP is and how it works.

In my last blog post I showed how easy it can be to work with OptoMMP using tools built right into groov Manage. To add to that resource, this follow up provides an overview about what OptoMMP is, how it works, and why you might want to make use of it.

This tech tip post covers some groov Manage tools that make the Opto Memory Map Protocol easier to use.

The Opto Memory Map Protocol (OptoMMP) is a powerful method of interacting with Opto controllers, everything from a PAC brain to the latest groov RIO—however, it's often overlooked and underused. This blog post covers some tools built right in to groov Manage that make OptoMMP more approachable, easier to implement, and straightforward to debug.

With the latest groov 3.5 firmware update comes another new version of Node-RED, its 3.0 milestone release.

Get ready to see what's new in Node-RED when you update to groov EPIC 3.5. This new version includes all the additions of the 3.0.2 software, the most recently available at the time of writing, and node v14.20.0 and npm 6.14.17 package updates as well. Let's take a look.

Using powerful built-in software, it’s easy to add more functionality to the multifunction, mixed signal I/O on groov RIO, including using RTD temperature probes with minimal code.

The groov RIO MM1, MM2, and even the groov EPIC GRV-MM1001-10 modules are extremely flexible, with an incredible number of software configurable options. Even with all that potential, you can do more when you combine this I/O with software tools like PAC Control, CODESYS, Node-RED, and custom Linux programs.

A great way to see this is with RTD sensors.

Learn best practices for managing Node-RED projects on groov devices.

It’s important to be able to manage Node-RED projects for recovery, version control, copying flows to other devices, and sharing code. There are several ways to do this, but what should you be aware of and what are the best practices for doing this on a groov device? 

See how to quickly read groov RIO data into the Ignition Exchange tag database

With software-configurable I/O, like that on the groov RIO MM1 and MM2, it’s easier than ever to instrument all your devices for control and reading back real-world data. To help you take the next step of getting that data somewhere meaningful, this post will summarize a new Ignition Exchange project for reading data from one or more groov RIO modules into your Ignition tag database.

Posted by MartinCSI, an IoT-certified OptoPartner, this project makes it trivial to dynamically get tag data into the Ignition tag database, display it on Vision pages, and link it to other projects and providers where you can then do whatever you need.