Are you wiring together devices and software using Node-RED? If you're even thinking about it, we've got a new Node-RED OptoForum for you. 

We announced in the last OptoNews that Node-RED is now a built-in feature in the GROOV-AR1 groov Box! This open-source IIoT tool lets you wire together hardware devices, databases, cloud services, and APIs (application program interfaces) with simple logic flows.

And it's free with your groov Box. If you already have a GROOV-AR1, just update to groov Admin 45 and you'll have Node-RED included. (Note that Node-RED is not available on the older GROOV-AT1.)

How does Node-RED work?

You build the flows using pre-made nodes from a hardware or software company. For example, Opto 22 provides two Node-RED nodes for accessing data in our SNAP PAC programmable automation controllers (via their RESTful API). Twitter provides a node for tweeting. Online weather services like Wunderground provide nodes to get data from their services. Mysql databases offer nodes. Hundreds of nodes are available for free.

In the Node-RED web-based software, you drag and drop the nodes you need onto a workspace and then wire them together into a flow that produces the result you want. You can even add JavaScript code to a function node. 

One of the cool things about Node-RED is that you can export and import nodes and flows to reuse and share. The Node-RED OptoForum already contains a few you can copy and import—including one of Ben's favorites, Wunderground—and we're sure there will be many more. 

For more on Node-RED, how to use it, and how to import and export flows, see Chapter 4 in the groov Box User's Guide for GROOV-AR1.

Whether you're a Node-RED newbie or an expert, check out the new Node-RED OptoForum. Share your questions, expertise, and flows, and we'll all learn together.