In 2012, explorer and filmmaker James Cameron did what no one had ever done before. 

He piloted a one-man submersible to Challenger Deep at the bottom of the Mariana Trench, the lowest spot on earth, 6.8 miles (10.9 km) below sea level.

Topics: Videos, optonews, Deepsea Challenge, PACs, PAC Project, OptoNews 2016-02-17

If you use PAC Control to develop your control programs, here's a question you may have: What the heck are IVAL and XVAL?

You see these terms in Simulation commands such as IVAL Set Analog Point, and you also see them when you inspect I/O points in Debug mode.

Topics: Tips, optonews, PACs, PAC Project, OptoNews 2016-02-03

Did you miss any of these? Here are the 5 OptoBlog posts our readers found most interesting in 2015:

1. Sinking and Sourcing in DC Circuits

Topics: Process control, Internet of Things, optonews, PAC Project, OptoNews 2016-01-06

We've talked recently about digital and analog totalizing: getting total running values for on-time, flow, power production, and so on. 

The next step is using those totals in your PAC Control strategy—and in your groov mobile operator interface—to get the information you need.

Topics: Process control, Discrete control, Tips, optonews, PACs, PAC Project, OptoNews 2016-01-06

Suppose you have an analog input—maybe it's a flow meter, for example—and you want to know not only the current flow rate, but also the cumulative flow over time.

How many gallons went through that pipe over the last 24 hours, or over the last month? 

If you're using an Opto 22 analog input module and PAC Control, you're in luck. 

Topics: Energy management, Process control, Tips, optonews, I/O, PAC Project, OptoNews 2015-12-02

Do you use communication handles in your PAC Control strategy?

Or are you thinking, "What's a communication handle?"

In either case, this tip is for you.

A communication handle is a powerful type of variable in PAC Control. You'll use it for three main reasons:

Topics: Tips, optonews, PACs, PAC Project, OptoNews 2015-11-18

If you've used Opto 22 products for a long time, you may very well have some colorful G4 digital I/O modules in a panel somewhere. They were probably installed back in the 1990s.

Still reliably monitoring sensors and activating outputs, these G4s are likely the workhorses of your automation system. Why would you ever want to replace them?

Topics: Discrete control, optonews, Migration, I/O, PAC Project, Optomux, OptoNews 2015-11-04

Choose the software, controllers, I/O, and more for your application, with help from our new interactive demo about SNAP PAC System components.

You'll find answers to questions like these:

Topics: optonews, PACs, I/O, PAC Project, OptoNews 2015-11-04

Let's say you have four pumps available, and you don't run them all at once. When it's time to start one, you want to choose the one with the least wear. 

You can decide which one to start by comparing the total amount of time each pump has run. That's a job for a totalizer.

Topics: Tips, optonews, PACs, I/O, PAC Project, OptoNews 2015-10-21

Whether your Modbus equipment uses Serial RTU, Serial ASCII, or Modbus/TCP protocol, our latest Modbus Integration Kit has you covered. 

The kit makes it easier to integrate your Modbus equipment with SNAP PAC controllers running PAC Control strategies. 

Topics: optonews, PACs, New products, Integrators, PAC Project, OptoNews 2015-10-07, Modbus