Start with sugar, and you could end up with a sweet business.

Topics: Case studies, Process control, PACs, I/O, PAC Control

• How do you get machine data without interfering with the process? 
• What's an easy way to monitor temperature in a server room?
• How can you control the flow of heating and cooling water in your HVAC system?

These are the kinds of fundamental questions that come up over and over in automation applications, and our new Automation 101 video series aims to answer them. 

Topics: Energy management, Videos, Process control, Discrete control, Remote monitoring, Training, I/O, Building management, PAC Control, Data acquisition

Beer and post season

In my last post, a green submarine traveled through space and time to the bottom of the ocean, and an Opto 22 SNAP PAC (programmable automation controller) interfaced with a lot of Modbus equipment to coordinate systems.

These next two adventures are also examples of how well Opto 22 PACs play with others.

Topics: groov, Internet of Things, IoT, PACs, Integrators, PAC Control, IIoT, Industrial Internet of Things

You may have been thinking about doing an IoT application that could help your company, but embarking on your first industrial IoT application may seem daunting.

I’ve heard Opto 22 Vice President of Marketing and Product Strategy Benson Hougland tell people to "start small," or "just get started." 

Topics: Internet of Things, Remote monitoring, IoT, IIoT, Industrial Internet of Things, Data acquisition

We've recently released new versions for key products:

• PAC Project R9.6004
• PAC Firmware R9.5e
• Node-RED for groov Box V4

Topics: groov, Updates, PACs, PAC Project, Firmware, PAC Control, Node-RED

Does it comply?

For some time now we've been working to make sure our products comply with the latest requirements for RoHS (Restriction of Hazardous Substances) and CE marking (a mark indicating that the product meets all legal requirements to be sold in the European Economic Area, or EEA). 

Topics: Machine builder, optonews, PACs, OEM, I/O, SSRs

As an applications engineer, sometimes known as OptoMary on our OptoForums, perhaps I shouldn’t have favorite customers. They’re all my favorites!

Sure, our products and people have helped build flashy Vegas shows, huge amusement parks, and various NASA endeavors that we may or may not be allowed to discuss in detail. We also have the less flashy water/wastewater installations and beloved "dam customers" that can be pretty Coulee, too.

In these Adventures of an Applications Engineer posts I'll share some of my favorite favorites. 

Topics: Deepsea Challenge, PACs, I/O, PAC Project, Modbus

One of the main promises of the IIoT (Industrial Internet of Things) is advanced data analytics. As I research what exactly this means and look for use cases, one thing that comes up often is anomaly detection. At first glance, the question that comes to my mind is, "But wait, don’t we already have this?"

Topics: Process control, Internet of Things, IoT, IIoT, Industrial Internet of Things, Data acquisition

We’re all concerned about maximizing our manufacturing equipment uptime and decreasing downtime. If our machines go down, we lose money. It’s that simple. In fact, according to www.industryweek.com, the average cost of downtime in most industrial applications is $30-$50K per hour. And that number is increasing each year. According to Aberdeen Group, downtime costs in some industrial applications can top out at $250K per hour.

Topics: Internet of Things, IoT, IIoT, Industrial Internet of Things

Maybe you're monitoring temperature, or controlling a production line, or getting data from a load cell. Whatever your goal, you want to get the I/O that works best for your application. 

Or maybe you happen to notice we have more than one SNAP-AIV voltage input module and wonder how they're different. 

Here are a couple of ways to find a SNAP module with the features you need and compare similar modules.

Topics: Energy management, Process control, Discrete control, Tips, Machine builder, optonews, OEM, Integrators, I/O, Data acquisition