BDATA Solutions addresses the issue of Cybersecurity in IoT and Edge devices through blockchain technology.

With the recent well-publicized internet hacks, cybersecurity is unfortunately at the forefront of many people's minds. Our latest OptoPartner Video is timely, as BDATA Solutions uses Blockchain technology to address this issue in Industrial Internet of Things architecture.

Wondering how to implement MQTT with groov EPIC? Follow along with this series, starting with basic string publishing.

Ever since ‘00, when the next year rolls around I think, “Welcome to the future!” Every year it feels much truer, and how could 2020 be any less? (UPDATE: 🤦) I’m excited about what we have planned for you this year. Among other things, we’re upping our commitment to MQTT in a big way. Stay tuned for announcements on that in the coming months.

For the moment, though, I want to address the current feature set groov EPIC offers for MQTT, the lightweight pub-sub communication protocol for IoT. With so many ways to do it—via groov Manage, Node-RED, or Ignition Edge—you may be wondering which, if any, is right for your application. In this series, I’m going to look at different scenarios where you might want to use MQTT, then show you how to get started.

groov EPIC firmware version 1.5.0 is available now and has several great new features and a few bug fixes. While our groov EPIC Readme file has all the technical details, here's a sweeping look at the new features I'm most excited about.

(Existing groov EPIC users can log into your MyOpto22 groov Manage account now to get your free update!)

Control Engineering magazine hosts its annual awards program, which highlights some of the best new control, instrumentation, and automation products.

We're excited that Opto 22's groov EPIC (Edge Programmable Industrial Controller) is once again in the running for an Engineers' Choice award! 

Major new features were added to the groov EPIC controller this year, making it a repeat contender:

1 - Programming options now include IEC 61131-3 compliant languages like:

• Function Block Diagram (FBD)
• Structured Text (ST)
• Sequential Function Charts (SFC)
• Ladder Diagram (LD)

2 - For greater security in data communications, you can now connect the GRV-EPIC-PR1 to a virtual private network (VPN), and configure the EPIC as a client to connect to an OpenVPN server.

3 - For Ignition users, you can now choose Ignition or Ignition Edge platforms. Full Ignition gives you access to more Ignition modules, external access to the OPC UA server (no need for a PC!), scripting, and database support.

But groov EPIC can't get the recognition without your help!

The recent announcement of security vulnerabilities discovered in the Wind River® VxWorks® IPnet TCP/IP stack has prompted questions from Opto 22 customers about what impact this discovery may have on TCP/IP-based products developed and manufactured by Opto 22.

Opto 22 would like to reassure our customers that, after careful and thorough review, we can state that none of our hardware or software products contain the VxWorks IPnet TCP/IP stack or variants of that software and are, therefore, not directly exposed to any attacks that might target these vulnerabilities. This statement applies to the recent Opto 22 product family groov EPIC® (edge programmable industrial controller), the groov® Edge Appliance (groov Box), the SNAP PAC® System, and SNAP Ethernet I/O® products.

These security vulnerabilities, dubbed URGENT/11 by Armis, an enterprise IoT security firm that made the discoveries, have far-reaching implications and affect an extremely large array of industrial, medical, and enterprise environments. These include mission-critical systems such as SCADA, industrial controllers, PLCs, PACs, and more. Other systems outside traditional industrial devices like patient monitors and MRI machines, as well as firewalls, routers, modems, VOIP phones, and printers are also affected.

OptoPartner and Distributor Advanced Control Solutions (ACS) now offers groov EPIC classes in their new OptoCertifed training facility located in Marietta, Georgia.

Good news for those of you looking for instructor-led classroom training on Opto 22's groov EPIC system. You now have a choice: come to Opto 22 headquarters in California or head to the southeastern U.S., whichever is more convenient for you.

ACS's recently opened training lab is staffed by OptoCertifed Trainers and teaches the same EPIC Premium Factory Training curriculum. Choose your location and get the same great training for your next automation or IIoT project.

The OS, or operating system, of groov EPIC is very different from traditional controllers. Instead of a proprietary OS, EPIC uses an open-source Linux® operating system.

From a security standpoint, an “open source” OS sounds scary. But in many ways it is more secure than a closed-source one, especially a well-known and often-attacked OS such as Microsoft® Windows®.

We've just added a new video to our website video library: Activate Ignition Edge on groov EPIC.

This video introduces you to Ignition Edge software from Inductive Automation, one of several programming choices available to you on the groov EPIC system, and it provides many options for connecting to popular PLCs.

Join OptoPartner Optomation Systems for a groov EPIC seminar and training.

The groov EPIC system is gaining recognition world wide and now Optomation Systems is bringing 2 days of EPIC seminars to Tangier, Morocco.

The groov EPIC system now includes a chassis option for applications that don't need (or want) I/O.

As we continue incorporating your feedback to improve and extend the groov EPIC system, we're pleased to announce the latest release of a new system chassis: GRV-EPIC-CHS0.