OptoBlog

2018: How Do Engineers Choose Automation Today?

Posted by Arun Sinha on Jan 8, 2018 2:41:50 PM

The web has transformed the way engineers, technicians, and plant managers find, select, and buy industrial automation, instrumentation, and controls.

I recently binge-watched the series "Halt and Catch Fire" on Netflix. It’s a fictional but historically based drama about the rise of the personal computing industry starting in the mid 1970s and running through to the internet age.

It was really interesting, especially for those of us who lived through it, or some of it (I started college in 1985). Not to mention the great soundtrack, if you like 1980’s punk, new wave, and alternative music!

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Topics: Videos, Internet of Things, IoT

Automation 101: New videos show you how to wire, configure, & move data

Posted by Jean Femia on Aug 22, 2017 10:00:00 PM
  • How do you get machine data without interfering with the process? 
  • What's an easy way to monitor temperature in a server room?
  • How can you control the flow of heating and cooling water in your HVAC system?

These are the kinds of fundamental questions that come up over and over in automation applications, and our new Automation 101 video series aims to answer them. 

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Topics: Energy management, Videos, Process control, Discrete control, Remote monitoring, Training, I/O, Building management, PAC Control, Data acquisition

OptoNews: Data center retrofit after 30 years

Posted by Jean Femia on Dec 14, 2016 3:58:11 PM
  • Think about how much computers have changed in the last 30 years.
  • Think about the quantity of data that enterprise data centers (EDCs) process today.
  • And think about how facility management priorities have changed to meet rising energy costs.

Now imagine what needs to be done to update a 30-year-old EDC.

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Topics: Energy management, Case studies, Videos, optonews, PACs, Building management, Security, REST API, RESTful server, REST, OptoNews 2016-12-14

OptoNews: New PAC REST API video - exchange data with Access database

Posted by Jean Femia on Dec 14, 2016 3:57:22 PM

In the last OptoNews, we showed you how an Excel® spreadsheet can exchange data with an Opto 22 SNAP PAC using the SNAP PAC controllers' RESTful API (application programming interface).

This time we'll show you how you can use the REST API with a Microsoft® Access® database. 

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Topics: Videos, Internet of Things, IoT, optonews, PACs, Integrators, PAC Control, API, REST API, RESTful server, REST, IIoT, Industrial Internet of Things, OptoNews 2016-12-14

OptoNews: New PAC REST API video - exchange data with Excel

Posted by Jean Femia on Nov 30, 2016 4:06:07 PM

What does the new built-in RESTful API in Opto 22 SNAP PAC S-series and R-series programmable automation controllers mean to you?

It means you can use a variety of programming languages to easily access data in the PAC.

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Topics: Videos, Internet of Things, IoT, optonews, PACs, PAC Control, API, REST API, RESTful server, REST, IIoT, Industrial Internet of Things, OptoNews 2016-11-30

OptoNews: New video case study - Vista delivers water through technology

Posted by Jean Femia on Sep 28, 2016 4:27:19 PM

Vista Irrigation District, near San Diego in Southern California, is no stranger to change. 

For nearly 100 years the district has provided reliable water to farm and residential customers—through population growth, drought years, and changes in land use.

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Topics: Case studies, Videos, Water & wastewater, optonews, Integrators, OptoNews 2016-09-28

OptoNews: New IoT resources page answers your questions

Posted by Jean Femia on Sep 14, 2016 4:08:08 PM

What is the Internet of Things (IoT) and what is it good for?

Is anybody actually using it yet for real applications?

Here's a page of resources to answer some of your questions: The Internet of Things.

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Topics: Energy management, Videos, Internet of Things, Remote monitoring, IoT, optonews, OptoNews 2016-09-14

OptoNews: New industrial refrigeration video case study

Posted by Jean Femia on Aug 3, 2016 3:54:09 PM

How do you get fresh apples in March?

California Controlled Atmosphere (CalCA) knows the secret: strictly controlled storage.

CalCA builds produce storage systems for growers in California and all over the world. Each system must be flexible to accommodate fluctuating harvests and individual produce varieties.

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Topics: Case studies, Videos, Food & beverage, optonews, PACs, OptoNews 2016-08-03

OptoNews: Legacy system data on the Internet of Things?

Posted by Jean Femia on May 25, 2016 3:27:25 PM

Look around and think about the useful data currently hiding in your legacy systems and equipment. 

How could that data help your company? 

Maybe it's process data from manufacturing lines, performance data from machinery, or status data from remote installations.

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Topics: Videos, Internet of Things, IoT, optonews, Events & conferences, OptoNews 2016-05-25

OptoNews: Video - Create your own HMI graphics

Posted by Jean Femia on Apr 13, 2016 3:59:11 PM

Wouldn't it be handy if you could easily create your own images to use in your HMI?

Especially if those images were smart enough to scale to fit your phone or tablet or computer or HDTV?

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Topics: Videos, groov, optonews, OptoNews 2016-04-13

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