Major release adds embedded OPC UA server, expanded MQTT/Sparkplug options, SNMP, Scratch Pad data access, and more

Everyone here at Opto is very excited to announce that the latest EPIC firmware update is now live.

Just as you update the OS on your phone to get the latest improvements in security, stability and performance, the OS on your groov EPIC is no different. It is after all, a quad core Linux computer, so updates are very important for the exact same reasons: security, stability, and performance.

And often these updates come with some cool new features. With this release, you'll find several.

New technical note shows you how to update security settings for your email applications.

You can use many Opto 22 products to send email notifications to keep engineers and technicians aware of important conditions in your system. For example:

• You can send email through a PAC Control strategy running on a groov EPIC or SNAP PAC controller.
• Your groov View HMI can send event notifications via email.
• Your Node-RED flow on groov RIO or groov EPIC can send email.

But you must make changes now to keep receiving emails!

Next up in the Node-RED videos series is a tutorial about using Swagger to help set up API calls.

In under 20 minutes, this new developer video from Terry Orchard will take you through all the steps you need to get a solid understanding of using Swagger UI pages to create API calls you can bring into Node-RED. Using them together, you can control all sorts of APIs from your groov device, both getting and posting data, using simple Node-RED.

Prepare to make security changes to your email accounts by May 30, 2022.

For a long time, automation engineers have sent email alerts and reports from automation applications via a ‘throwaway’ Gmail account. This seemed harmless enough at the time and really useful, but it wasn’t very secure. As email abuse has risen over the years, it's time for the “less secure” party to come to an end.

Does this mean an end to all email alerts? Not at all. You just need to adjust your Google Gmail settings and update to a new application password in each application. Of course, this applies (with different end dates) to most other email providers as well as Google; check with your email provider for details. This blog will focus on Google Gmail.

Next up in the Node-RED developer video series is a tutorial on adding data tables.

Did you know that you can install additional gadgets to the Node-RED dashboard? Terry Orchard returns to the OptoStudio to show off the features of the ui-table node. Learn how to install the table node package and configure different kinds of tables to fit your needs, complete with several examples using live, real-world data. 

Follow along in this new developer series video as Terry Orchard guides you through storing and passing data in a Node-RED flow.

What if you need to snapshot a message from a very specific part of a Node-RED flow?

For those of you who've been using the Node-RED programming tool or are just getting started, Terry's latest video provides some guidance on storing data. In a Node-RED flow, each node can add to, modify, or delete data in different ways.

New Opto 22 Developer Broadcast video makes the JSON data format easy to understand.

OptoBlog followers are most likely familiar with Terry Orchard's Node-RED video series, and he's recently added a new video to that playlist. This time, Terry's goal is to introduce you to the JSON data format, so it's easy to understand and simple to get started with.

Intrinsics Imaging’s AI-powered vision system uses groov RIO to connect the cloud to the edge.

Machine vision systems can recognize superficial aberrations in manufactured goods—like lines, spots, holes, color discrepancies, and more—that would typically require time-consuming manual inspection. California-based Intrinsics Imaging solves this problem with its Heijunka Vision analytics-as-a-service software. But when Intrinsics was approached by a customer hoping to integrate Heijunka directly into process controls, it looked to Opto 22’s groov RIO edge I/O for a way to connect the cloud to the edge.

Small in size but loaded with data and connectivity options.

Hopefully, you caught our two previous related blog posts on the technical details of the groov EPIC Power Module, and the recent announcement of the new groov RIO EMU. 

In this blog post, I’ll focus on the unique features of the RIO EMU as a distributed power and energy monitoring device, plus so much more.

Remote I/O over MQTT helps Rust Automation deploy affordable remote monitoring in a challenging environment.

Did you watch the Fall CODESYS Tech Talk virtual event that we shared with you last October? It demonstrated how the CODESYS runtime engine works and why it's included on Opto 22's groov EPIC.

Jared Bates, from OptoPartner Rust Automation & Controls, joined us for that presentation. He discussed a current water management application that utilizes CODESYS on EPIC, groov RIO remote I/O, and MQTT for secure data communications. 

Now, we've put the story of all that cutting-edge technology into a case study, so you can dig into all the details!