Another groov I/O module was just released as the groov EPIC system continues to expand.

We've just added GRV-IVIRMS-10 to our growing list of I/O options for
groov EPIC.

As the latest addition to the family of analog voltage input modules, GRV-IVIRMS-10 provides true RMS (root mean square) voltage monitoring for 10 inputs up to 300 VAC/VDC with channel-to-channel isolation and 20-bit resolution. True RMS calculation is critical for non-sinusoidal power monitoring applications such as variable speed drives (VSD), heating controls, computers, HVAC, and solid-state components where typical peak measurement averaging can under- or over-shoot actual voltage by 5 - 40%.

In part 2 of our series, we look at how to set up groov Manage and Ignition Edge for publishing with Sparkplug B payloads.

MQTT is the darling of enterprise IoT because of its efficiency, simplicity, and flexibility, which makes it ideal for use in applications that communicate with resource-constrained edge-of-network devices. After being nurtured for years within IBM, and incorporated into their smart energy, health, and utilities solutions, MQTT has become the chosen messaging protocol across all the major cloud IoT platforms as well as highly scalable applications, like Facebook Messenger.

For the second year in a row, groov EPIC has been selected as a winner in
Control Engineering's Engineers' Choice Awards.

Our team of Opto engineers was thrilled to learn groov EPIC is once again the Engineers' Choice for IIoT edge controllers. groov EPIC was eligible and nominated to be a repeat contender this year because of the significant product updates and features added in 2019, including IEC 61131-3 programming support.

Listen in as Opto 22's Josh Eastburn and Benson Hougland discuss edge computing concepts with Automation World's Dave Greenfield.

Automation World continues its informative podcast series "Get Your Questions Answered" with an all new podcast for 2020. This podcast series connects with industry experts to answer the questions of automation tech users across the process and discrete manufacturing industries. 

The OpenJS Foundation and nodered.org have officially released Node-RED version 1.0!

Since the previous major Node-RED version v0.20, there have been big changes and improvements to both the visual editor on the surface and the runtime under the hood. These improvements are what truly make this a full version 1.0 update, and not just an iterative v0.21. This blog post will cover what has been updated or changed at a high level, and discuss the impact on users of Node-RED running on groov EPIC.

The results are in from Automation World magazine's 9th annual Leadership in Automation program.

Opto 22 has once again been recognized as a First Team supplier in automation for 2020. Hundreds of Automation World subscribers cast their votes during the past year which required them to write-in their ballot choices. Over two dozen categories were featured, representing a wide variety of automation technologies, software, and products used by today's manufacturing professionals across the discrete, batch, and continuous process manufacturing industries.

Take advantage of more opportunities to learn about Inductive Automation's Ignition software, part of the groov EPIC system.

Opto 22 will be sponsoring and participating in three Ignition-related events in Orlando in February. If you plan on attending the annual ARC Industry Forum, you'll want to extend your visit that week to include one or more of these Inductive Automation events.

Cost-effective automated reconciliation for petroleum distribution terminals (PDTs) improves safety and accounting.

Meet Blendtech, a division of PT Industrial Electric and supplier of Terminal Automation Systems (TAS). A TAS is commonly used to automate the processes at petroleum distribution terminals to keep them running efficiently and in compliance with government regulations. 

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.

Watch these new groov EPIC videos for tips on using your Modbus TCP devices with groov View, PAC Control, Node-RED, and Inductive Automation's Ignition software.

Opto 22 engineer Ben Orchard is back in the Opto 22 studio with several new video lessons on communicating to Modbus TCP devices with a groov EPIC processor.

For each lesson, Ben is using a groov EPIC Learning Center (GRV-EPIC-LC) along with a Modbus SATEC P130 power meter, which is measuring the voltage and frequency of the mains power in our studio.