Opto 22's Fall 2023 CODESYS Tech Talk featured an innovative solution from Costa Farms using groov RIO and the CODESYS runtime engine.

Opto faithful! Did you catch CODESYS Tech Talk Fall 2023, a unique event dedicated exclusively to CODESYS users in North America? This five-day virtual extravaganza was jam-packed with discussions on the latest innovations in control systems engineering from a number of CODESYS partners. 

The Tech Talk provided a golden opportunity for engineers like myself to dive deep into new and emerging technologies to share with CODESYS users. We highlighted a recent use case from longtime Opto 22 customer Costa Farms—a leading global horticulture company, renowned for its diverse range of high-quality plants and innovative gardening solutions.

Here at Opto 22, we keep our ear to the ground on all things automation. When we heard the industry’s demand for a versatile I/O package, we responded—thus, groov RIO was born. Since then, we’ve upped the ante with tools for onboard control (enter: Node-Red and Python) and more communication methodologies (hey there, MQTT, OPC UA, and Ignition).

And with our latest advancement, we’ve really done it: added a sophisticated real-time engine.

The latest groov RIO 3.5 firmware update offers a CODESYS programming option along with enhancements for performance and security.

groov RIO firmware 3.5 is here! And the big news is the CODESYS runtime engine has been added. That means now you can run a control program on groov RIO—one you build in CODESYS using any of the IEC 61131-3 compliant languages.

The engineers have kept their fingers on the keyboard here at Opto HQ and are beyond excited about the release of version 3.5 firmware for the groov RIO family. We can't wait to see what applications our awesome customers come up with, now that the CODESYS runtime engine has been added to the complete groov RIO Trio.

Week 6 of the groov Manage video series brings you a detailed look at the control engines included with groov EPIC.

You might think we have a sleeper menu feature for this week's blog: only two buttons behind the Controller groov Manage menu option. Boring, right? Far from it! This is amazing! 

The fact that you can even choose between two control engine options is worth a pause. Learn what's possible in this week's groov Manage: Controller video.

Welcome True North Solutions as the newest OptoPartner in Opto 22's system integrator network.

The OptoPartner program is growing rapidly in 2023, and we're pleased to announce we just added another new member: True North Solutions. With headquarters based in both Colorado. USA and Alberta, Canada, they offer a wide range of services that includes IIoT solutions, cybersecurity, industrial telecom, electrical, mechanical, and process engineering.

Opto 22's Northwest Regional Manager, Bruce Campbell, has been working with True North Solutions and shared:

"True North Solutions is an important new integration partner for Opto 22. They have a long history in automation in the Oil and Gas industry in Colorado and Western Canada, two areas that have been big adopters of Opto 22's groov EPIC control system. Their expertise in designing and implementing turnkey control systems will help us deliver complete solutions to customers."

Learn more about their experience and expertise.

Using powerful built-in software, it’s easy to add more functionality to the multifunction, mixed signal I/O on groov RIO, including using RTD temperature probes with minimal code.

The groov RIO MM1, MM2, and even the groov EPIC GRV-MM1001-10 modules are extremely flexible, with an incredible number of software configurable options. Even with all that potential, you can do more when you combine this I/O with software tools like PAC Control, CODESYS, Node-RED, and custom Linux programs.

A great way to see this is with RTD sensors.

New categories and reorganization of topics are just some of the reasons to visit the OptoForums.

Whether you're new to using Opto 22 products or a long-time user, you can benefit from checking out the OptoForums. It's where engineering minds meet to post questions, answer fellow forum user questions, recommend solutions or even provide code samples—all related to Opto 22 hardware and software.

Moderated by Opto 22's Ben Orchard and Terry Orchard, the Forums are another great resource to keep bookmarked for troubleshooting or application advice.

And the Forums recently went through some reorganization, with more topics and categories added to help you find your answers more quickly and efficiently. Take a look at what's new.

A new section just added to the Opto 22 Developer site supports the latest 3.0.0 release of the Opto 22 CODESYS library package.

If you haven't visited developer.opto22.com in awhile, you'll want to spend some time reviewing our latest technical guides and resources. The site gets a lot of traffic from developers working with groov EPIC, SNAP PACs, Node-RED, and even industrial I/O for Raspberry Pi. 

Since all Opto 22 products are designed on open standards, you have a variety of ways to interact with them and integrate with other systems. The developer site helps you do that.

Now we've added a section dedicated to helping you program CODESYS on groov EPIC controllers.

Version 3.0.0 of the Opto 22 Library Package for the CODESYS Development System is now available.

For all of you taking advantage of the CODESYS programming environment available for groov EPIC, you'll want to hear about this week's version 3.0.0 release of the Opto 22 CODESYS library package. With CODESYS, you can program groov EPIC for industrial control and monitoring using any familiar IEC 61131-3 compliant language.

Version 3.0.0 brings you a new collection of OptoMMP client function blocks you can use to access any area of an Opto 22 device's memory map.

groov EPIC becomes a Modbus master/client with a few easy lessons.

With Modbus continuing to be a popular protocol for industrial devices, the chances are pretty good you will need to write a program to communicate with Modbus slave/server devices more than a few times. The groov EPIC controller offers several Modbus communication options, and CODESYS, an IEC 61131-3 compliant development environment, is one of them.

With your PLC programming experience and the Using groov EPIC as a Modbus Master in CODESYS course on OptoU, creating a CODESYS project with Modbus master functions will be a breeze.