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. 

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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.

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

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?

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

Some recent Opto 22 products, like the SNAP-UDC-HDB breakout board and the 8-channel SNAP-AIRTD-8U analog input module, use new spring clamps for wiring field devices.

These spring clamps are faster for wiring and take up less space than the screw type, so they're a real advantage.

They may be a little tricky till you get used to them, though.

Topics: Videos, Tips, optonews, I/O, OptoNews 2016-03-30

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

As "green" power production from sun and wind increases, electrical grids can find themselves with a big problem: too much electricity at once. 

Solar and wind power generation work when the sun shines and the wind blows. But those hours are not necessarily when electrical demand is highest. 

Topics: Energy management, Case studies, Videos, groov, Internet of Things, Remote monitoring, IoT, optonews, Integrators, OptoNews 2016-02-03