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As the groov EPIC® platform passes the year-and-a-half mark in its maturity, appropriately enough, Opto 22 releases version 1.5.0 of its firmware. This release broadens the palette of visualization and storage options for groov EPIC to suit an even wider variety of applications and hardware.
The embedded groov View server is updated to version 4.2, with functions to create even more dynamic web and mobile HMIs, dashboards, and Andon boards. New shape gadgets allow users to create custom SVG images and animations directly in groov View, and to dynamically change their color and size (height and/or width) based on process variables or on any other data source connected to groov EPIC. This version also introduces tag-driven conditional formatting for other gadgets, allowing users to make elements visible or invisible, as well as change text color and formatting.
These options could be used, for example, to enhance overhead displays for a bottling line by changing the color of text and numerical readouts to reflect line status or quality metrics stored locally in PAC Control™, CODESYS®, Node-RED, or Ignition®. For batch and continuous control applications, users could enhance situational awareness in operator interfaces by creating custom level and range indicators that change height and color in response to level, temperature, pressure, or alarm readings.
With groov EPIC 1.5.0, OEMs can also choose from a broader range of external HDMI monitors and touchscreens, including models from DELL, Hope Industrial, SuperLogics and AIS. This makes it even easier to eliminate Windows PCs and OITs for local viewing and operator interfacing, significantly reducing material and maintenance costs and total cost of ownership. groov EPIC 1.5.0 supports both resistive and capacitive models via its built-in HDMI port, and makes it possible to calibrate and configure them through groov Manage.
For engineers leveraging groov EPIC to implement distributed database, communication, and file servers, 1.5.0 now adds support for USB mass storage devices. This feature makes it possible to expand edge device servers beyond groov EPIC’s 6GB of SSD user space, further reducing the need for high-maintenance, general-purpose PCs in critical applications.
This update also adds USB file access for PAC Control, CODESYS, Node-RED, and groov Manage, allowing engineers to programmatically manage files, like uploading recipe configurations from a thumb drive to a control application running on groov EPIC, or creating a rolling buffer that automatically archives old data logs to attached storage.
groov EPIC has two USB ports that can support multiple drives, hubs, or serial adapters, as well as a single Netis USB WiFi adapter.
Other enhancements in this upgrade include:
• Support for the new CAN bus integration module, GRV-CCANI-2.
• Upgrade to Node-RED 1.0.2, including editor, search, and core node enhancements, as well as under-the-hood changes for better debugging and more predictable flow logic.. Complete upgrade instructions are available in the groov EPIC User’s Guide.
