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.
In the past, if you needed to do a little control on the edge where the RIO was installed, your options were largely Python or Node-RED. This is fine for basic high-level control, but we heard many requests for just a little more, and so with this update, we delivered!
The CODESYS Development System, along with the new runtime engine, lets you use all the usual tools and programming methods, like ladder logic or sequential function charts. The CODESYS Development System is free for download from the CODESYS US Store, and the CODESYS RIO runtime engine license is available for purchase from the Opto 22 website, product number GROOV-LIC-CRE-RIO.
In other release news, we are also very pleased to announce that we have achieved Sparkplug 3.0 compatibility with this 3.5 firmware. You can roll out RIOs far and wide and be confident that all the Sparkplug infrastructure you put in place will be interoperable with all other future devices and software—as they achieve the same Sparkplug Compatible listing.
Also in the 3.5 release, a unique update on the groov RIO EMU firmware: the GRV-R7-I1VAPM-3 now stores energy accumulation and summation values to persistent memory for retention over a power cycle.
And speaking of the RIO Energy Monitoring Unit, if you wanted to make public more than just a handful of the 64 channels of energy and power data it calculates, it used to require a lot of mouse clicks. With the 3.5 firmware update, you can now make batch changes to a few different key aspects of every point on a RIO. Of course, this batch operation also applies to the MM1 and MM2, but with only 10 I/O points on those units, there is less wear and tear on your mouse!
We try very hard to keep the EPIC and RIO firmware and features in lockstep whenever possible, so you can catch up with things like the updated Node-RED and Node.js versions in our 3.5 EPIC firmware blog post if you like. And just as in the groov EPIC 3.5 update, the RIO MM2 now has updated Ignition Edge 8 to 8.1.21 & Modules 4.0.16.
We also included the new streaming configuration area and the Modbus calculator pages in groov Manage, along with extra system status for Data Service.
As you can see, there is a lot of parity between the EPIC and RIO in this firmware update, just as in the past. This makes working with the whole groov family a really seamless experience.
For a full list of features and bug fixes, you can always take a deep dive into the groov RIO Firmware Release Notes.
Like all of our firmware updates, this update is totally free. We never charge for any software updates, no matter what version and no matter when you purchased your groov RIO.
One last comment—we sometimes get this question from our customers: “I missed a few firmware updates, but I really want the new features in this one. Can I just jump from the version I'm on to this latest version?”
The answer is yes! Our QA team tests just that—to ensure that you can go directly all the way from version 1.0 to whatever is currently available without issue.
Till next time.
Cheers Mate,
-Ben