You already know that groov is the simple way to build your own mobile operator interface—your own mobile app—so you can securely monitor and control your systems and equipment from a smartphone or tablet.
With groov it really is easy to build your interface and control who can use it.
But there's one part that can be more complicated: setting up your network so you can access the data you need while maintaining security for your systems.
Topics: groov, Remote monitoring, Machine builder, optonews, OEM, Integrators, Networking, Building management, OptoNews 2016-02-17
Sinking or Sourcing?
Let’s take a quick look at the topic of sinking and sourcing outputs.
Where did the difference come from, and where does it matter in automation?
Quick answer: you often have to choose the correct module because the device you are wiring requires either a sink or source. For example, if you have a prebuilt electrical cabinet, it may be wired using a common positive or a common negative method. Thus you HAVE to choose the correct digital output module for the way the panel is wired.
Topics: PLCs, Electronics, Tips, IoT, Machine builder, OEM, I/O
The automation PC is located in the control room, and the dump valve is on the other side of the tank farm wired to a remote I/O cabinet, all connected over an Ethernet network.
The IT guys are working on the network, and they say it may take a few days to track down the intermittent cable. But hey, in the meantime, they say that it mostly works…
That answer might be sufficient for watching YouTube, but it is just not going to cut it for controlling that valve.
What do you do?
Topics: Discrete control, PLCs, Remote monitoring, Tips, IoT, PACs, OEM, I/O
Do you know what time it is? Does your SNAP PAC controller know what time it is? Are they the same time? Who’s right?
In this week's blog we are going to talk about this big ball of wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff.… No, not time travel, but actual time…. Specifically how to set your PAC Controller to the current time.
No reading ahead; remember, time flies like an arrow and fruit flies like a banana.
Topics: Internet of Things, PLCs, IoT, PACs, OEM, Networking, PAC Project
It is amazing how sometimes similar applications can come back to back….Last week's blog came from a customer asking how to measure the main power grid frequency. And later the same week I had a totally different customer ask me about how he could display upper, lower and current value of the main electrical grid frequency in groov. What are the chances of that!!??
This customer wanted one gadget to display all three values. Why so dense? Because they only use groov on smart phones, no PCs or Tablets. He was polling the data from a bank of UPSes and so needed to display a lot of data. Screen real estate is prime on those devices. What can we do to help?
In this week's blog, we are going to have some adventures in Z-Order.
Topics: Energy management, groov, Internet of Things, Remote monitoring, Tips, IoT, PACs, OEM, I/O
Measure the main power grid frequency, he said. It will be fun, he said…. Actually, pretty sure I said something like, “it will be easy”... and I was mostly right, and best of all, it did turn out to be fun!
It seemed like both a reasonable and easy request. The requirements were to measure the mains power grid frequency to a resolution of 0.01 Hertz, and to do it every 125 milliseconds (roughly; it could be a max of 200 milliseconds, but not much longer).
Why? In this case, the chase is better than the catch. It's enough to say the customer had his reasons, and this blog is about the chase.
Topics: Energy management, Process control, groov, Internet of Things, Remote monitoring, Electronics, Tips, IoT, OEM, I/O
Layers of security:
I wish there were, but there just isn’t.... There is no one device, hardware, or software that is the single defense for all known and future network attack vectors—including the one critical weakness: humans. You know, some thing or device that you could simply put at your network's front door and have it reject all the bad guys, but allow the friendlies in without question. Secure and easy is still a wish.
The solution then really comes down to layers. Adding layers that each will take a lot of time and a lot of effort to peel back, so much so that most attackers simply give up and move on.
The past few blog posts have talked about some of those layers, so let's now put it all together and see just how we might go about building a very robust mobile-accessible industrial automation network.
Topics: Process control, Discrete control, groov, Internet of Things, PLCs, Remote monitoring, Electronics, Tips, IoT, Machine builder, PACs, OEM, Integrators, Networking
A lot of control engineers do, especially in fields like water treatment, refrigeration, thermoforming, refining, food processing, and energy or building management.
There are a variety of temperature sensors on the market—ICTDs, thermocouples, RTDs, thermistors, infrared sensors. Accuracy, cost, wiring complexity, and environmental conditions are some of the factors that determine which one is best for your application.
Topics: Energy management, Process control, Food & beverage, Water & wastewater, Machine builder, optonews, OEM, Integrators, OptoNews 2015-06-17
Here's a cool new feature for your groov Box, available now: you can create your own private groov WiFi network with WPA2-PSK security.
That's right, the new groov Admin v1.570.39 includes a SoftAP option for GROOV-AR1 and GROOV-AR1-SNAP.
So even if there's no wireless network available, when you're close to the groov Box you can still connect your mobile device to groov and securely use the operator interface you've built.
Topics: groov, Updates, Remote monitoring, Machine builder, OptoNews 2015-03-04, OEM