Weather Information for Automation Users

  Kepware Technologies (www.kepware.com), Portland, Maine, has licensed weather information from weather network operator WeatherBug (www.weatherbug.com) that will be made available to automation users through Kepware’s KEPServerEX OPC technology. OPC is an open connectivity standard for moving information in automation systems.

KEPServerEX is the latest generation of OPC server technology from Kepware, which specializes in communication software for automation. KEPServerEX was designed to allow users to quickly set up communications from equipment to control systems via a wide range of available “plug-in” device drivers and components.

KEPServerEX will now support Internet connectivity to real-time weather information, available as a licensed service. The WeatherBug for Automation driver will be delivered as an additional plug-in, joining more than 100 automation protocols already supported. Weather variables include: date, time, station location, temperature, relative humidity, wind speed, average speed, max speed, light intensity, rain levels and more.

As part of this relationship, WeatherBug, a Germantown, Md.-based provider of weather information services, will also create a joint venture, advertiser-free, version of the WeatherBug Desktop application, WeatherBug Plus. The application will highlight Kepware as the solution provider and will highlight WeatherBug as a source of real-time, local weather information. This customized version will be available from the Kepware Web site, free of charge, and will allow automation professionals to review local weather conditions, forecasts and severe weather alert information.