Suppose you need to monitor temperatures from several thermocouples wired to a SNAP-AITM-8 analog input module.

Or maybe you have a bunch of switches that are all wired to a high-density digital output module like the SNAP-ODC-32-SNK.

Here's a tip for anyone who needs to add several similar I/O points to a PAC Control strategy: you can save a lot of time by adding them automatically. 

Topics: Tips, Machine builder, optonews, OptoNews 2015-07-15, I/O

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Star Struck:

From a young age I have been looking up at night. Not sure exactly when I fell in love with astronomy, but I can recall looking up at the stars every chance I got as a kid.

I have ebbed and flowed with the amount of time and equipment I have had to spend on the hobby. In Australia I had a fully enclosed fiberglass domed observatory, which I chose to not ship over when my family moved to The States, but the desire to look up has not gone away.

Only the constellations at the horizon can be seen in both hemispheres, and even those look upside down compared to what I used to see. So I wanted to get something up and running fast here that would allow me some time to get my bearings in the sky and to share my new stars with my mates back in Australia via my personal website.

In this week's blog, I would like to share what astronomy tools I currently have set up, thanks to some Opto 22 hardware and groov.

Topics: Videos, Process control, Discrete control, groov, Internet of Things, Remote monitoring, Electronics, Tips, IoT, PACs

What's on your MicroLogix™ PLC that you'd like to monitor or control from a mobile device?

Machine status? Temperatures and pressures? Valves and pumps?

Whatever it is, you can see it and do it now with a groov mobile operator interface. 

In our latest groov Workshop video you'll watch Opto 22's Director of Training, Mary St. John, build and use a simple interface for a MicroLogix PLC that's communicating as a Modbus/TCP slave. You'll learn how to:

Topics: Videos, Process control, Discrete control, groov, PLCs, Remote monitoring, optonews, Integrators, OptoNews 2015-07-01

Ever thought about working at Opto 22? Here's a chance to do just that—three chances, in fact.

Right now we're looking for people to fill 3 positions:

• Senior Technical Writer
• Software Developer
• Corporate Sales Engineer

Topics: optonews, OptoNews 2015-07-01, Careers

Here in Temecula we celebrate the 4th of July by grilling hot dogs and hamburgers, eating ice cream, and then heading over to the sports park to watch fireworks set to music from our local radio station.

Topics: Videos, optonews, OptoNews 2015-07-01

Accuracy and resolution both appear in specifications for our SNAP analog modules. But what do they mean, exactly? 

Accuracy

Let's start with accuracy, which is pretty easy to understand. Accuracy is how close a measured value is to reality, to the true quantity of what is being measured. 

Topics: Process control, Tips, optonews, OptoNews 2015-07-01

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Layers of security:

I wish there were, but there just isn’t.... There is no one device, hardware, or software that is the single defense for all known and future network attack vectors—including the one critical weakness: humans. You know, some thing or device that you could simply put at your network's front door and have it reject all the bad guys, but allow the friendlies in without question. Secure and easy is still a wish.

The solution then really comes down to layers. Adding layers that each will take a lot of time and a lot of effort to peel back, so much so that most attackers simply give up and move on.

The past few blog posts have talked about some of those layers, so let's now put it all together and see just how we might go about building a very robust mobile-accessible industrial automation network.

Topics: Process control, Discrete control, groov, Internet of Things, PLCs, Remote monitoring, Electronics, Tips, IoT, Machine builder, PACs, OEM, Integrators, Networking

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Tale of two LANs

Would you like to view critical plant status from anywhere on the Internet?

Are you worried that if you connect your automation network to your company’s IT network (which is likely connected to the Internet), the wrong people could access your control system? Or that traffic like YouTube might impact your automation network throughput?

Would you like to get an email or text message alerting you to an out-of-band condition, but since your automation network is not linked to the IT department email server, you can’t set anything like that up?

There are a lot of advantages and only a few disadvantages to segmenting your IT (Information Technology) network from your OT (Operational Technology, in other words your controls) networks. While there are a few different ways to segment networks, in this blog we are going to look at separating them using one of two Opto 22 products: SNAP PAC Controllers and groov.

Topics: Process control, groov, Internet of Things, Electronics, IoT, Machine builder, PACs, Networking

Do you monitor temperatures?

A lot of control engineers do, especially in fields like water treatment, refrigeration, thermoforming, refining, food processing, and energy or building management.

There are a variety of temperature sensors on the market—ICTDs, thermocouples, RTDs, thermistors, infrared sensors. Accuracy, cost, wiring complexity, and environmental conditions are some of the factors that determine which one is best for your application.

Topics: Energy management, Process control, Food & beverage, Water & wastewater, Machine builder, optonews, OEM, Integrators, OptoNews 2015-06-17

Seen from space, light from waste flare gas in the Bakken oil fields of North Dakota is nearly as bright as all the lights from the city of Chicago. 

That's a lot of energy going up in smoke.

That's a waste of resources, says Pioneer Energy President Dr. Robert Zubrin. 

Topics: Case studies, Videos, Process control, Remote monitoring, optonews, PACs, OptoNews 2015-06-17