For an overview of the groov EPIC and its features, check out the rest of this blog series.

• Part 1: groov EPIC Introduction
• Part 2: Ignition Edge

Setting Up the CODESYS Environment 

The groov EPIC supports a handful of programming environments, including PAC Control, Node-RED, and the CODESYS IDE. In this demo, we will use CODESYS to develop a simple program for the EPIC. CODESYS is an IEC 61131-3 compliant environment commonly used across many PLC manufacturers, with a user-friendly interface and support for multiple common IEC standard languages. 

To enable CODESYS on the EPIC, first open the groov manager web app and enable CODESYS (Controller > CODESYS Controller > Runtime Enable). Note that while the CODESYS application is running, we can no longer control the outputs from the screen made in blog 2, as the outputs are being controlled from the CODESYS program instead. To switch back to controlling IO from the previous screen, simply disable the CODESYS application from groov manager. This ability to easily switch back and forth between the two modes can be a huge help during I/O checkout and testing of a large, complex system. 

Next, open the CODESYS development environment on a PC that is on the same network as your EPIC and configure your device connection. Create a new project and add a new device connection to your groov EPIC by entering your device IP and scanning the network. Once connected, your device connection will look something like this. 

You can now click the “Login” button on the top toolbar to go online with your EPIC and monitor tag values directly. 

Configuring Controller Logic in CODESYS 

Our sample PLC program represents a machine that must not be left running unattended for longer than a set time interval (default of 10 seconds). PB_UPPER represents the “On” command to the machine, while PB_LOWER is an additional button that must be held down for the machine to continue running. This input could also be tied to a proximity sensor that determines whether an operator is present at the station. Our buzzer output alerts the operator if the machine has been running unattended for too long. 

Our simple application consists of two programs – the “main” program, PLC_PRG calls the subroutine “TurnOnBuzzer”. TurnOnBuzzer takes in both PB statuses, as well as the buzzer delay setpoint, and outputs the desired buzzer on/off state. These two programs illustrate how both text and ladder logic can be used to program your groov EPIC in CODESYS. 

To map your controller, I/O to tags within your programs, configure a mapping on the “State” tag of each I/O point, as shown below. Then, add a “Symbol Configuration” object to your application. This is where you control permissions for OPC UA read & write access of your PLC tags from Ignition or other applications. You can configure tags to be read-only or read/write based on the needs of your application. 

Now that our CODESYS program is configured, click the “Login” button and download changes. Next, we’ll set up our Ignition Edge HMI to interact with the CODESYS program. 

Using Ignition Edge as an HMI for a CODESYS Program

Now that our CODESYS OPC server is configured, add a new OPC Connection to your Ignition gateway under Config > OPC Connections. Enter the discovery endpoint of the new CODESYS OPC UA server. If you are using defaults, this will be opc.tcp:https://static.dmcinfo.com/ Once this is configured, you will see the new tags you added in CODESYS Symbol Configuration available in Ignition. 

For this demo, we are building onto the Ignition HMI that was developed in part 2 of this blog series, with three new pages. The “Alarm Status” page provides an interface to monitor the status of the two push buttons, and contains an indicator of machine runtime, displaying as it counts towards our “buzzer on delay” value. 

The “Config” tab provides an input field that is linked to our “buzzer on delay” PLC parameter. Here the user can configure the limit for continuous machine runtime before the buzzer is triggered. This provides an example of a tag with read/write permissions between CODESYS and Ignition. 

Finally, the “Trends” tab highlights the internal tag historian functionality of Ignition Edge. Without any extra database connections, tags from the groov EPIC (both PLC program tags or direct IO points) can be stored to the Edge historian and trended to monitor values over time. Here, we have configured the temperature reading from our Thermocouple and the voltage reading from our dial input as historical tags. With Ignition’s sleek and powerful trending tools, these trends can be configured and displayed in minutes. 

Thanks for reading this Getting Started series for Opto 22 groov EPIC! Now you’re ready to begin programming your own groov EPIC using CODESYS and Ignition Edge.  

The post Getting Started with Opto 22 groov EPIC Part 3: CODESYS & Ignition Edge appeared first on DMC, Inc..

For an overview of the groov EPIC and its features, check out the rest of this blog series.

• Part 1: groov EPIC Introduction
• Part 3: CODESYS & Ignition Edge

Setting up Ignition Edge on groov EPIC 

The groov EPIC GRV-EPIC-PR2 model ships with a license for onboard Ignition Edge version 8. This can be enabled from the groov Manage web server under http://<EPIC/ address>/manage/local/ignition. Toggle on “Enable Ignition Edge” and click save. It will take a few minutes for the gateway to start.  

Once Ignition Edge has been enabled, simply click the “Open Ignition Edge” link and follow the prompts displayed to configure your Edge gateway. 

Once your gateway is configured, you can add its designer in the Ignition Designer Launcher application by manually entering the gateway URL. From here, you are ready to create your first groov EPIC Ignition Edge project.

Configuring the groov EPIC OPC UA Server

Open the groov Manage webserver from a PC connected to the groov EPIC. From here, follow the instructions below to configure the OPC UA server.

1. Enable public access for all desired I/O.

a. Navigate to “I/O”, select an I/O point and click “Configure” in the top-right.

b. Under “Public Access” turn on “State (Read)” and “Writable” then click “Save.”

c. Repeat the above steps for each desired I/O point. Alternatively, save time by configuring many I/O points at once under I/O > I/O Services > I/O Batch Operations. 

2. Configure data service

a. In groov Manage, navigate to “Data Service” and click “Configure” in the top right. 

b. Under “Scanned Devices”, click “Add Local PAC Controller.” 

c. Configure desired settings (ensure OPC UA Server is on) and save.

d. Navigate back to the Data Service configuration page and add an OPC UA server. Set the following settings.

e. Return to the Data Service status page and enable Data Service Runtime. 

Connecting the groov EPIC OPC UA Server to Ignition

Now that we have an OPC UA server configured, we will next connect this to our local Ignition Edge gateway. 

1. In the Ignition Edge gateway, navigate to Config > OPC Connections. 

2. Click “Create new OPC connection.”

3. Copy the Discovery Endpoint from your previously configured OPC UA server into the “Endpoint URL” field. 

4. Follow the remaining configuration prompts to set up your connection. 

5. Give your connection a name and click “Save Changes.”

Once this connection is configured, you should be able to see your new OPC UA connection under Config>OPC Connections with a Status of “Connected.” You can now browse OPC UA tags from the Ignition designer and add your groov EPIC I/O tags to your Ignition project. 

From here, Ignition Edge screens can be easily developed to monitor and control the EPIC’s local I/O. In our demo setup, we monitor these I/O tags directly on the Main screen, as shown below.  

Ignition’s powerful scripting capabilities may be used to implement control logic directly, without a need for a PLC program. For the next part of this demo, however, the CODESYS controller onboard the EPIC was leveraged. In part 3, we will explore using CODESYS and Ignition Edge together on a groov EPIC. 

The post Getting Started with Opto 22 groov EPIC Part 2: Ignition Edge appeared first on DMC, Inc..

For an overview of the groov EPIC and its features, check out the rest of this blog series.

• Part 2: Ignition Edge
• Part 3. CODESYS & Ignition Edge

Here are just a few ways developers can interact with the groov EPIC processor: 

• CODESYS (Runtime Engine license included) and PAC Control programming environments
• Custom programming in C, C++, Python, Java, etc. by leveraging the EPIC’s Linux operating system
• Local Ignition Edge instance (license included) for visualization & data acquisition across the network
• Optional full Ignition gateway with additional license cost
• Node-RED flow configuration
• Built-in groov Manage & groov View webpages for quick & intuitive configuration & data visualization

With this impressive list of tools and features that ship with the groov EPIC processor, the task of selecting which to use for a given project can feel daunting. In this blog series, we will dive into a few of these options and have you ready to set up your first groov EPIC in no time! 

Our Hardware Setup

For this demo, we will be using the following groov EPIC processor and IO modules. 

GRV-EPIC-PR2 Processor

The GRV-EPIC-PR2 is Opto 22’s second generation groov EPIC processor, complete with onboard Ignition Edge 8, Linux operating system, and CODESYS runtime engine. The processor comes with a built-in high resolution touch screen and HDMI port for easy connection to an external monitor. 

IO Modules

• IACDCTTL-24 Digital Input module, connected to the two push buttons shown in the above image 
• ODCI-12 Digital Output module, connected to a buzzer 
• IICTD-12 Temperature Probe Analog Input module, connected to the thermocouple shown above.
• IV-24 Voltage Analog Input module, connected to the analog potentiometer dial shown above 

OPC UA Server Options on groov EPIC

With all the various features and programming environments available on the groov EPIC, determining the correct option for interacting with local I/O as well as distributed devices can be overwhelming. In this blog series, we’ll focus on a few different OPC UA servers that can be hosted locally on the EPIC to interact with local I/O and PLC program tags. Before we jump into our setup, here is a quick breakdown of some of the OPC UA server options on the groov EPIC and the appropriate use-case for each. 

Ignition OPC UA Server 

The Ignition OPC UA server comes with the included Ignition Edge module and is enabled by default once Ignition Edge is enabled on the EPIC. This server can be configured from the Ignition Edge gateway and is useful when communicating with network devices, such as other PLCs, from the groov’s Ignition Edge application. This OPC UA server was not used in this demo, as we did not connect to any external network devices from the groov EPIC. 

Groov EPIC OPC Server

The groov EPIC OPC server is the second OPC server that is hosted on the EPIC. This is configured from the groov Manage web server and allows clients to read and write to the EPIC’s local I/O directly. Part 2 of this blog series will focus on using this server to interact with the EPIC’s I/O from Ignition Edge. 

CODESYS OPC Server

In addition to Ignition Edge, the groov EPIC also comes with an onboard CODESYS controller that can be enabled from groov Manage. To use Ignition Edge as a front-end HMI for this CODESYS controller program, an OPC server must be configured on the CODESYS controller. This server then may be connected to the local Ignition Edge gateway, allowing PLC program tags to be read & written to from Ignition. This setup is detailed in part 3 of this blog series. 

Navigating the groov Manage Webserver

Out of the box, the groov EPIC comes with an impressive and sleek webserver that can be used to easily perform basic configuration and monitoring of the device and its I/O. This webpage can be accessed from a PC over the network as well as directly from the groov EPIC’s onboard touch screen, although some functionality is available only from a PC. 

IO Monitoring & Control from groov Manage 

The I/O section of the groov Manage webpage contains an intuitive interface to monitor, control, and configure I/O points. This useful tool can make commissioning and I/O checkout a breeze on any size system. Without any external software, users can quickly: 

• Set a name & units for each I/O point 
• Configure scaling, gain, and offset for analog values 
• Monitor the state of inputs 
• Modify output values 
• Configure external access ability for each I/O point 
• And more! 

The “batch operations” functionality even allows for some of these operations to be completed in bulk for many channels at once. 

System Configuration from groov Manage

The groov Manage webpage is a one-stop shop for configuring network settings, security, users, and more. The Data Service tab includes configuration for MQTT and OPC UA server. The Ignition, Node-RED, and groov View tabs allow you to quickly enable & launch each service on the groov EPIC processor. The Controller tab provides the ability to start, stop, and diagnose CODESYS and PAC applications running on the controller. Furthermore, the Info and Help tab contains links to a variety of useful support guides. 

Using groov View as an Onboard UI

Opto 22’s groov View is a no-code tool that can be used to quickly develop custom user interfaces to display on the groov EPIC’s onboard touchscreen, in addition to a network PC. Groov View can pull in tags from the groov EPIC’s own I/O or connect to several external data sources including OPC UA servers & Modbus devices. To get started, navigate to groov View from the groov Manage webserver and click the link to open groov View. This will open the home page of your groov View project. 

This HMI can be configured by switching to Build mode from the top-right corner Menu button. From Build mode, UI elements called “gadgets” can be dragged onto pages, linked to tags and organized with ease. 

Each page developed with groov View has both a Desktop/Tablet and Handheld size, to facilitate use from a PC/tablet or from the groov EPIC’s onboard touch screen. Navigation between pages is also built into groov View, making development a breeze. In minutes, you can have a custom application on the groov EPIC’s onboard screen that combines critical I/O points with external OPC UA or Modbus tags.

Check out part 2 of the Opto 22 groov EPIC series to learn how to use CODESYS and Ignition Edge with groov EPIC.

The post Getting Started with Opto 22 groov EPIC Part 1: groov EPIC Introduction appeared first on DMC, Inc..