OptoBlog

Where's your EPIC?

Posted by Janice Colmer on Feb 19, 2024 7:00:00 AM

Tell us how you use groov EPIC in your projects, and we'll send you our popular mini 3D-printed EPIC.

Remember how we celebrated your EPIC stories this past holiday by creating the mini groov EPIC ornament?

Well, it's back by popular demand. We're still hearing from many of you who are eager to share how you use or are planning to use groov EPIC in your applications, so let's keep the momentum going!

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Topics: Case studies, groov EPIC

New case study: Production facility meets pandemic vaccine demand

Posted by Janice Colmer on Jan 25, 2024 9:05:46 AM

See how Zendal overcame multiple challenges of cybersecurity, incompatible equipment, lockdown, logistics, and remote teams.

During the year 2020, dozens of companies worldwide worked to develop vaccines for the pandemic-causing virus COVID-19. Biofabri, a subsidiary of Spanish international biopharmaceutical group Zendal, became responsible for industrial production of the antigen vaccine for most of Europe.

Their task was daunting. Somehow they would have to construct and automate a new fill-and-finish facility during a worldwide pandemic, in a country with one of the strictest lockdowns. Logistics were soon in chaos, with even basic supplies unavailable. Zendal had a variety of older equipment in place with incompatible controllers and individual HMIs. They also had no control over the make or model of PLCs that package suppliers would provide with new equipment. 

And towering over all other problems were issues of cybersecurity. 

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Topics: Case studies, Ignition Edge, groov EPIC, cybersecurity

Case Study: Point Energy Partners

Posted by Janice Colmer on Jan 3, 2024 10:09:41 AM

Preventing spills and improving operational efficiency using Opto 22's groov RIO.

Texas-based Point Energy Partners (PEP) specializes in acquiring and developing onshore U.S. oil and gas properties with extensive experience working in major basins across the nation. PEP owns and operates the majority of the gathering and midstream assets for its operations, including its very large water recycling program, which showcases their commitment to sustainable and efficient resource management.

In an industry where every spill carries a hefty price tag, PEP found that the manual and low-tech systems at their water sites were a significant problem. These sites did not have a big budget for upgrades, so most control solutions on the market just wouldn’t fit the bill.

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Topics: Case studies, MQTT, CODESYS, Sparkplug, groov RIO, oil and gas

Lethbridge College Gains Flexible Automation System for Research Requirements

Posted by Janice Colmer on Oct 11, 2023 9:00:00 AM

New case study featuring groov RIO demonstrates how OptoPartner Microclimates helped provide a secure system for the Aquaculture Centre of Excellence.

The groov case study library continues to expand with its latest application story that shows how groov products play an important role in education.

The Aquaculture Centre of Excellence at Lethbridge College mimics conditions in large commercial aquaponics facilities, but for research purposes, they needed a highly flexible automation system. Research parameters change frequently to test a variety of system elements, and most automation systems don't allow frequent adjustments. 

This case study shows how Microclimates software running on groov RIO industrial I/O modules gave researchers the secure, flexible system they required. 

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Topics: Case studies, ssh, OptoPartner, groov RIO

Apex Energy Replaces End-of-life System for Improved Data

Posted by Janice Colmer on Sep 27, 2023 9:10:16 AM

New case study shows how StrataVu and groov EPIC secure a flexible future for Oil & Gas production.

When the hardware for the automation system you’ve deployed throughout your entire installed base is suddenly declared end-of-life, you’re faced with a problem. That’s what happened to Apex Energy LLC, a natural gas exploration and production company, headquartered just outside Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

As a longtime customer of systems integrator and Opto technology partner Strata Innovative Solutions, Apex had used Strata’s field-proven PadPro automation solution starting with their second drilling site, or well pad. They were happy with the solution. But in 2019-2020, manufacturers of the hardware components began to end-of-life their products. For their planned growth, Apex needed a new solution that would offer as seamless a transition as possible.

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Topics: Case studies, groov EPIC, Technology Partners, oil and gas

Case Study: Nucor subsidiary POK brings foundry to industry 4.0

Posted by Janice Colmer on Aug 8, 2023 12:27:15 PM

New factory saves initial and recurring costs, improves products with groov EPIC and Ignition.

Moving to Industry 4.0 takes time and determination, especially for an established company in a heavy industry. Castings Foundry POK in Guadalajara, Mexico, a Nucor subsidiary, uses equipment from manufacturers all over the world, which may include PLCs from a variety of automation suppliers. But data from all this equipment needed to be shared with corporate SCADA and ERP systems.  

In this new Opto 22 case study, see how POK's new factory solved this problem, saving an estimated 60% in initial costs, making operators' jobs easier with comprehensive HMIs, and improving product quality. 

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Topics: Case studies, groov View, groov EPIC, Ignition

Case Study: Clearing Harmful Algal Blooms

Posted by Janice Colmer on May 11, 2023 11:32:14 AM

AECOM, Ecosa, ENGraphted, and Opto 22 team up for a new solution to a complex environmental problem.

Harmful algal blooms (HABs) in lakes, rivers, and oceans are an increasingly severe problem worldwide. HABs can produce toxins that harm humans, kill fish, smother aquatic life, and destroy tourist economies. 

If you were headed to Florida as a tourist in 2016 or 2018, you would have witnessed this devastation. Due to massive algae blooms, Governor Rick Scott declared a state of emergency and closed beaches on both coasts. The invasive, toxic blue-green algae choked many freshwater lakes, rivers, and residential waterways as well.

Faced with the ugly, slimy, stinky water, not just tourists but residents and business owners who did not have the ability to leave the area were stuck. The toxic slime threatened human health and devastated tourism-related businesses, as dead fish and aquatic life piled up along the shorelines.

Available solutions for HABs weren't ideal, so Dan Levy of AECOM put together a team to develop a new process for removing the algae. Read about the process, how they developed efficient algae harvesters, and what the harvested biomass is used for in this new case study.

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Topics: Case studies, groov View, groov EPIC

Case Study: Reduce Pump Management Time by up to 90%

Posted by Janice Colmer on Nov 15, 2022 1:52:06 PM

Cost-effective automation and internet of things technologies save time and yield better control.

California-based Azcal Management farms a wide variety of crops in drought-prone conditions. Managing water use and monitoring pumps is crucial for their operations to succeed and means walking a fine line between providing just enough water, but not too little.

Azcal farm managers made the decision to automate their manual processes to keep up with demand and avoid costly breakdowns, repairs, or damaged crops. Finding a system integrator in the agriculture field market was challenging, but after meeting with John WIlliamson of Farm Data Systems (FDS), they realized the new edge technology that FDS offered could bring their farming operations into the internet of things.

It was time for an end-to-end field monitoring and automation solution for crop irrigation management.

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Topics: Case studies, groov EPIC, groov RIO

Launching a Nationwide Equipment Network

Posted by Janice Colmer on Jun 9, 2022 9:11:16 AM

ALTA Refrigeration achieves faster, easier product development and servicing with groov EPIC and MQTT.

What’s the secret to providing superior service and staying competitive in a changing market? Over ten years, ALTA Refrigeration transformed itself from a custom engineering services company into a scalable industrial equipment manufacturer. Read their case study.

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Topics: Case studies, MQTT, groov EPIC

Deepsea Challenge - 10 years later

Posted by Ben Orchard on Mar 25, 2022 7:00:00 AM

This month marks the 10-year anniversary of James Cameron's historic dive to the Mariana Trench with the help of Opto 22 controls.

About this time 10 years ago, I got two emails about an hour apart. The first was from my wife saying my 16-year old son had fallen off his skateboard and taken a chunk out of his elbow. The second was from my son himself, asking if he could go back and find the missing bit rather than go to hospital to get stitches.

Today, we all have a bit of a laugh about it when we recall the story. But at the time, it was pretty stressful for each of us, mostly because I was away from home half way around the world.

In fact, I was a thousand miles out at sea working with the team that was preparing the Deepsea Challenge submersible that would end up taking movie director and deep ocean explorer James Cameron to the deepest point on the planet - the Mariana Trench.

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Topics: Case studies, Videos, Deepsea Challenge

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