Most people relate the term blockchain to an Internet currency or peer-to-peer payment system called Bitcoin.

But there’s way more value to blockchain technology than just a payment system.

And it just might help us solve a lot of problems related to industrial cyber security, particularly in Industrial Internet of Things applications.

Topics: Internet of Things, IoT, PACs, Security, IIoT, Industrial Internet of Things

What could cognitive computing do for you?

Cognitive computing involves analyzing huge quantities of data and spotting correlations and patterns that are valuable—similar to what a human brain can do. But computers can analyze lots more data, much faster. 

Topics: Process control, Internet of Things, IoT, optonews, Integrators, IIoT, Industrial Internet of Things, Data acquisition, OptoNews 2017-03-15

The next industrial revolution, the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), is happening now.

In March 2016, a Gartner survey reported that 43% of organizations were already using or planned to implement IIoT applications during the year.

But it's not necessarily easy. There are still challenges to be met and a lot of decisions to be made as you move ahead. 

Topics: Internet of Things, IoT, optonews, IIoT, Industrial Internet of Things, OptoNews 2017-03-15

Sure, the industrial Internet of Things sounds cool. Real cool, in fact. But how do you do it and where do you get started?

For a self-proclaimed technology geek like myself, the industrial Internet of things (IIoT) is a pretty exciting topic. I wasn’t exactly born digital (individuals who have grown up with the current state of ubiquitous computing and communications).

Topics: IoT, PACs, IIoT, Industrial Internet of Things

There’s a lot of talk these days about artificial intelligence, the cloud, and cognitive computing.

But what the heck do those things have to do with industrial automation, and why should automation professionals be getting up to speed on these technologies?

Topics: Discrete control, Internet of Things, IoT, Machine builder, PACs, I/O, REST API, IIoT, Industrial Internet of Things

Who doesn't love a good Internet standard? I remember when I first got started in the technology world, reading RFCs was a great way to put myself to sleep at night.

But during the day, they did help considerably when trying to solve tech problems with hardware or software that wasn’t quite conforming to a defined technical specification. And that’s a problem we’re seeing with the Industrial Internet of Things today.

Topics: Internet of Things, IoT, IIoT, Industrial Internet of Things

In a recent developer survey conducted by the Eclipse IoT Working Group, IEEE IoT, and Agile IoT, 40.8% of respondents indicated that the IoT solutions they were either currently building or planning to build are IoT platforms or IoT middleware.

Almost every large IT or OT company today has some form of IoT platform or middleware.

In fact, right now there are over 150 self-described IoT platforms in the market today. Not neccessarily created equally.

Topics: Energy management, PLCs, IoT, PACs, REST, IIoT, Node-RED

We've just released version 3 of Node-RED for the GROOV-AR1 groov Box. 

Node-RED is an open-source software tool for digitally wiring together hardware devices (like the groov Box), APIs (application program interfaces), and online services.

If you have a GROOV-AR1, Node-RED is included starting with groov Admin 44.

Topics: groov, Internet of Things, Updates, IoT, optonews, Integrators, IIoT, Industrial Internet of Things, Node-RED, OptoNews 2017-03-01

Note that the information below applies not only to PCs, PACs, and PLCs, but to pretty much any industry-standard compliant network device.

There are a ton of great network analysis tools out there today that you can pay huge sums of money for. But a go-to industry standard, and my tool of choice for everyday network troubleshooting, is a free piece of software called Wireshark.

Topics: PLCs, IoT, PACs, Networking, IIoT

This week Opto 22 is exhibiting at the Open IoT Summit in Portland, Oregon. The IoT Summit is a Linux Foundation event, packed with a ton of technology workshops and product demos.

We also exhibited at the IoT Summit last year. It’s a great chance to connect with the Linux developer community and get their perspective on things, since it’s so much different from what a typical industrial automation professional is exposed to.

Topics: groov, Internet of Things, IoT, PACs, API, REST, mobile, IIoT, Industrial Internet of Things, Node-RED, GPIO