A new series of blog posts by Opto 22 Application Engineer Ben Orchard gives you a front-row seat.

Remember filmmaker and explorer James Cameron's dive to the deepest part of the ocean, the Mariana Trench, just three years ago? 

Ben spent 4 months with the Deepsea Challenger team, in Australia, Guam, and at the Trench.

Today's tech tip is for anyone spec'ing new I/O for your system. It's a "hidden gem" on our website: the SNAP I/O Configurator.

This fun tool helps you build an I/O unit—mounting rack, I/O processor, and SNAP I/O modules.

Pick a rack-mounted controller or brain for I/O processing. There it is, on the rack.

Need a Factory Mutual approved, channel-to-channel isolated, digital input for DC voltage? Piece of cake. Check the boxes and choose the one you want.

Add all the analog, digital, and serial modules you need. If the rack is too large or too small, just click to change it. 

If your building automation system uses BACnet—and many do—you can integrate it with your SNAP PAC System using our free BACnet Integration Kit for PAC Project.

We've just updated this integration kit to include:

Older wind farms still produce clean energy, but many weren't built for modern monitoring and control.

This lack of remote visibility causes problems for utility companies and other owners, who must immediately respond when regulators call for changes in production.

That's because the electrical grid has to be a Goldilocks kind of system: not too much electricity, not too little. It has to be just right.