Rapid prototyping for simple (and delicious) connected control
What does it take to turn a hobby into a business? For one barbecue enthusiast, Dave Counts of Automated Concepts, Inc. (ACI) proposed using Opto 22’s groov RIO. He thought the multifunction I/O and simple Node-RED programming would provide a lot of flexibility to help his customer design a prototype barbecue control system.
“What we normally use for smaller jobs is a Siemens micro PLC," Dave said, "but if you want to have an operator interface on top of that then you’ve gone way over the cost of groov RIO, whereas RIO has the I/O, control, and user interface all in one.”
In this brief case study, Dave puts the functions of Node-RED to work developing a control program and mobile HMI to automatically manage smoke, heat, and cook time, helping his customer launch what he hopes will become a new business opportunity.
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Have you used groov RIO to pull off a great weekend project that became a new business? Tell us all about it.