The annual Ignition Community Conference is celebrating its 10th year with a return to an in-person event as well as a virtual option.

The Ignition Community Conference gathers the leading minds in industrial automation to exchange ideas, inspiration, and technology. This year, Inductive Automation celebrates 10 years of ICC, and there are more ways to explore the event than ever before! ICC X features two ways to attend:

• In-person at the Harris Center for the Arts in Folsom, CA
• Virtual event (2 weeks later) hosted on the Hopin platform

Visit the Registration page to choose how you want to experience ICC X.

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Part 2 of our interview with Industrial Cybersecurity Pulse addresses edge communications and reducing network complexity.

Last week in the OptoBlog, we shared a recent interview where Josh Eastburn had a discussion with ICS Pulse’s Gary Cohen about using industrial devices on the edge of your networks and their effect on cybersecurity.

Their conversation continues in Part 2 of this Expert Interview series and covers: 

• OT data risks
• Different OT communication protocol models
• How MQTT addresses security threats
• Reducing network complexity

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Hear from John Harrington, Co-Founder and Chief Product Officer at HighByte, as our guest series on the open automation ecosystem continues.

Many companies are looking to improve their business by collecting and making better use of industrial data. Whether you are performing AI/ML-based predictive analytics, setting up quality dashboards, measuring lean projects, or simply logging for traceability, you require consistent, reliable, and secure data. At HighByte, an industrial software company, we’re focused on providing the infrastructure to reliably manage data delivery at scale. 

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A discussion with Industrial Cybersecurity Pulse about edge devices and cybersecurity

Industry 4.0 and edge computing concepts are becoming more commonplace in a variety of industries. Data democratization is key for companies taking on their digital transformations. But along with these advancements come extra security risks. 

How can you address cybersecurity threats for these devices on the edge of your networks? We have some thoughts on that, and Josh Eastburn shared some insights when he recently sat down with Gary Cohen, senior editor at Industrial Cybersecurity Pulse.

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Following the recent groov EPIC 3.4 firmware update, groov RIO offers similar updates in its 3.4 release.

Here are some exciting additions in the latest groov RIO 3.4 package. All these new features are available in all groov RIO models: MM1, MM2 and RIO EMU.

The biggest news is the embedded OPC UA server. This is a first of its kind: a fully functioning OPC UA server option for a remote, Ethernet-based input/output module.

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Take advantage of the groov EPIC Configurator and groov RIO Explorer tools on the Opto 22 website.

If you’re considering the groov EPIC edge controller or groov RIO edge I/O modules for your projects, check out the online tools on our website that help you design these systems. You’ll be able to view all the components that make up the system and select the ones you need for your specific application. 

In the interactive groov EPIC Configurator, you click and choose components like processors, power supplies, I/O modules, and signals, so you can start building your system online.

In the groov RIO Explorer, you can select each of the software-configurable I/O channels to see all the various I/O signals types available, so you can determine if groov RIO is right for your remote I/O needs.

You can even send your selections to Opto 22 application engineers for review. They can review your design with you to make sure you’re meeting all the requirements for your project. Does this sound like a helpful resource you’d like to learn more about? Read More…

groov EPIC OPC UA Server makes it easy to access your data; lessons on OptoU show you how

Do you need access to your PAC Control strategy variables and I/O, or data from the memory map area on your groov EPIC? Do you want to connect to OPC UA client applications such as SCADA, MES, or enterprise software?

groov EPIC is now serving up this data securely and reliably with its built-in groov EPIC OPC UA Server. Publish the data where you need it.

In this post, we’ll go over exactly what data is accessible from the server, the basics of configuring the server, and some examples of how you can use it. And when you’re ready to work with the OPC UA server, you can find step-by-step instructions in the groov EPIC OPC UA courses on OptoU.

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A recent article featured in Control magazine outlines the project that brought together the state of Indiana and Amazon Web Services (AWS).

Indiana is leading the way in advancing manufacturers to make Industry 4.0 quick, simple, and cost-effective. The state has launched a first-of-its-kind program to enable its manufacturing industries to become the Factories of the Future.

This unique energy project brought together many key players including Energy Systems Network (ESN), Emerging Manufacturing Collaboration Center (EMC2), Amazon Web Services (AWS), OptoPartner Feyen Zylstra, and even Opto 22.

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Opto 22 Tech Partner HiveMQ hosts an all-new webinar using MQTT technology with groov RIO.

Need to push IIoT data instantly and bi-directionally between your device and your enterprise systems? 

HiveMQ shows you how to efficiently move data across networks and cloud platforms with their MQTT broker and client-based messaging platform. Key features: high availability, security, real-time troubleshooting, and management tools. 

These are just a few of the reasons Opto 22 has partnered with HiveMQ for both groov EPIC and groov RIO products.

Want to see this technology in action?

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See what’s new in the latest version of Node-RED included in groov EPIC 3.4 firmware.

With every groov firmware update we also include updates to the software our devices run, whether that’s groov View, Ignition, or Node-RED. The recent groov EPIC 3.4.0 update is no different! In this post, I’ll briefly go over some of the biggest updates to Node-RED, which has been bumped to v2.2.2. If you want to know more about the 3.4.0 groov EPIC firmware, check out Ben’s forum post.

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