Machine builders and system integrators looking for a robust but easy-to-create mobile SCADA system now have a new choice: Opto 22’s groov interface and app development environment is now compatible with more than just the company’s Snap PAC controllers.
Users now can build a groov mobile interface for Rockwell/Allen-Bradley, Siemens, Wonderware, Schneider, Honeywell, Yokogawa, Modbus or other systems.
The groov app lets users securely monitor and control systems and equipment from any iOS or Android mobile device, including smartphones, tablets, even an iPod touch. The development tool and viewing software are both web-based, and no plugins, coding or programming is required. Security is provided via secure sockets layer (SSL) and use of a virtual private network (VPN) is recommended.
Holland, Mich.-based commercial egg producer Schipper Eggs didn’t need the multivendor part of the application when it got groov 1 earlier this year. Schipper Eggs’ automated feed mill—which must store, mix, and move tons of nutritionally balanced poultry feed—already had Opto 22’s Snap PAC controller installed. Because the feed mill operates 14-16 hours a day mostly unsupervised, Facilities Manager Dan Berghorst knew additional oversight was needed.
“We needed a way for the operators to have instant remote access,” he explains, “including being able to monitor the mill’s operational status and also start, stop, or modify how the feed was being mixed.”
Setting up the groov Box and preparing screens for an operator interface took little time. “Building screens was quick,” he says, “and it didn’t take long to get up and running.” Feed mill operators now monitor and control the mill from smartphones, and the remote access also lets Berhorst monitor and troubleshoot the mill’s control system.
Berghorst has used other mobile SCADA products, and he appreciates groov’s ease of use: “I love the way that I can change screens and it gets pushed to all the devices as soon as they refresh,” he says.
groov was developed because Opto 22’s Benson Hougland saw a really need for secure remote access to the company’s Snap PAC systems. groov 2 expands on the initial concept by incorporating OPC Drivers for KEPServerEX, a communications platform from Kepware Technologies. The list of drivers includes 100s of PLC and device drivers, database and application specific drivers that enable groov 2 to easily connect to other systems.
So users can try the system, a fully functional version of groov Server for Windows is available for download and use for two hours without a license. Simple instructions walk users through software set up and connection to one or more systems for viewing real-time data.
