OptoNews - February 20, 2008

Integrate SNAP PAC and Modbus Systems

Tech Tip: Specifying a SNAP PAC System

Second OptoGreen Grant Awarded

Publicize Your Business with a Case Study

Integrate SNAP PAC and Modbus Systems

With the Modbus Integration Kits for PAC Project, you can connect an Opto 22 SNAP PAC programmable automation controller (PAC) via a standard network to any Modbus device and communicate.

Two integration kits are available: one for serial networks using the Modbus protocol, and the other for Ethernet networks using the Modbus/TCP protocol.

Each Integration Kit includes:

• PAC Control master subroutines
• A sample PAC Control strategy for a Modbus or Modbus/TCP slave
• PAC Display master and slave projects, which illustrate communication between the sample strategy and a Modbus or Modbus/TCP device

Both integration kits are newly updated for version 8.1 and available for free download on our website:

Download the Modbus/Serial Integration Kit for PAC Project
Download the Modbus/TCP Integration Kit for PAC Project

Tech Tip: Specifying a SNAP PAC System

Described as "buried treasure" in the OptoForums, the SNAP PAC System Specification Guide (Opto 22 form #1696) helps you design and specify a SNAP PAC System.

This guide introduces the system's four components—software, controllers, brains, and I/O—and illustrates how to build a basic system and expand it.

The guide also includes installation instructions, wiring diagrams, dimensional drawings, and specifications for all parts.

As forum poster gmitchell says, the comprehensive guide is "suitable for design engineers, systems integrators and end users alike."

Download the SNAP PAC System Specification Guide.

Second OptoGreen Grant Awarded

Opto 22's SNAP PAC System controls and monitors all kinds of businesses, all over the world. In New York state, we'll now count Wright’s Apple Farm and Davenport’s Farm among our customers, thanks to a new OptoGreen Grant.

The second OptoGreen grant recipient is Michael Otis of the State University of New York (SUNY) New Paltz Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering. Otis and his students, together with The Solar Energy Consortium (TSEC) in Kingston, NY, are working to bring large-scale renewable energy solutions to New York agricultural farms.

OptoGreen Grants provide Opto 22 equipment for projects, machinery, products, or research related to renewable energy, energy consumption optimization, sustainability, or environmental remediation. If you'd like to apply for an OptoGreen Grant, you can download a grant application.

For more information about the second OptoGreen Grant award, read Arun's blog entry, or read the press release.

Publicize Your Business with a Case Study

Have you read some of the customer case studies on our website, or seen a case study video, like the one at right for PayWerks? Case studies are a great way to get ideas about system design.

Your company can be featured in a case study, too. Case studies showcase your successful automation system design and provide publicity for your products and services.

Opto 22's Case Study Program offers four levels of participation, from a simple paragraph to a combination of written and videotaped case studies that appear in trade publications. You retain complete control over content and distribution. For more information, read about the Case Study Program.