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.

As well as automatically reading the initial module configuration, the Gateway scripts in this project also update the I/O data on a regular interval, and get any changes to configuration details. Using the right groov Manage RESTful API endpoints, it takes just two calls to read any of the tens of thousands of ways the channels on the 10-channel module can be set up.

Once that configuration is stored in the tag database, it takes just two more calls, every 500 ms by default, to get all the analog and digital data from the device. From there the project includes a real-time data screen to view the configuration and I/O states and values. But of course, once the data has been read in, you can do whatever you want with it: custom pages, graphics, alarming, notifications, and all the many other things Ignition can do.

But it doesn’t stop there! You can add additional devices right there in the Vision interface, by programmatically creating new tag folders and populating them with config data. Adding additional RIO modules takes just a few seconds. You can also delete configurations and clean up the tag database, as well as switch between devices you want to manage. And all of this while continually updating the tag values in the background.

This is an extremely powerful and versatile project, and if you’re looking for an easy, secure way to get your device data through a RIO and into Ignition SCADA, it’s the perfect place to start.

You can check out the latest version on the Ignition Exchange here:
https://www.inductiveautomation.com/exchange/2274/overview