California-based industrial automation and IIoT manufacturer Opto 22 has updated its flagship groov product line with new models designed to run the latest version of Inductive Automation’s Ignition IIoT/SCADA platform. The new groov EPIC® processor, GRV-EPIC-PR2 (PR2), and groov RIO® edge I/O module, GRV-R7-MM2001-10 (MM2), both ship with Ignition Edge® 8.1 pre-installed and include expanded memory and storage to support future versions. These releases target the growing market of edge-oriented applications like operational equipment effectiveness (OEE), predictive maintenance (PdM), remote condition-based monitoring (CbM), and digital transformation/IIoT.
“The relationship between Opto 22 and Inductive Automation has always been a natural fit, and the popularity of Ignition Edge on groov EPIC clearly demonstrates that,” said Benson Hougland, VP of marketing and product strategy at Opto 22. “With Ignition Edge 8, Inductive has made it even easier to design robust edge-of-network systems, so we doubled down on our commitment to the platform with new models that let our customers in the Ignition community take full advantage of its features.”
Opto 22 became the first Ignition Onboard partner in 2017 when it introduced Ignition Edge to its groov product line. The groov EPIC edge controller uses Ignition to provide embedded OPC UA and MQTT/Sparkplug B communication, as well as optional features like database transaction management and manufacturing execution system (MES) operations. Now, with one Ignition Edge 8 license, Inductive Automation includes all of its OPC UA drivers, allows external client access to the embedded OPC UA server, and introduces mobile HMI and web scripting options.
The groov EPIC PR2 processor aims to support this and future releases with more than double the storage capacity of the original PR1 and nearly double the RAM. PR2 is fully compatible with existing groov EPIC I/O, power supply, and chassis options and provides Ignition 8 developers with an automation environment that integrates PLC, PC, and network gateway functions into a single, secure edge device.
The groov RIO MM2 module introduces Ignition support to Opto 22’s edge I/O family, which debuted in Q1 2020 with the groov RIO MM1. In addition to the Power-over-Ethernet (PoE) capability and multi-signal I/O channels of its predecessor, the MM2 provides nearly double the memory and storage. With Ignition onboard, it can function as a gateway to PLCs and other third-party devices as well as send a variety of traditional I/O signals directly to on-premises and cloud-based Ignition servers.
“The quality and functionality of the new groov EPIC and groov RIO models work perfectly with Ignition 8.1,” said Don Pearson, VP of sales and marketing at Inductive Automation. “Designing and building out robust architectures starting with highly functional edge-of-network systems has never been easier than now. We value our relationship with Opto 22 and we are pleased that our customers in the Ignition community can now benefit even more from that partnership.”
Availability
The groov EPIC PR2 processor (GRV-EPIC-PR2, $1995) and groov RIO MM2 module
(GRV-R7-MM2001-10, $895) are available this month. For additional information and application advice, contact an Opto 22 pre-sales engineer: 951-695-3000 or toll-free, 800-321-6786.
