This user's guide shows you how to install and use Opto 22's SNAP PAC R-series programmable automation controllers. SNAP PAC R-series controllers are on-the-rack industrial controllers. Each controller monitors and controls a wide range of devices and equipment wired to the I/O on its own rack and on distributed racks equipped with SNAP PAC EB-series brains. Alternatively, the R-series controller can be used as a slave to a larger, SNAP PAC S-series standalone industrial controller.

SNAP PAC controllers are programmed with PAC Control Basic or PAC Control Professional, Opto 22's flowchart-based development software, which is part of the PAC Project software suite.

Toyo Tanso USA manufactures a fine grade of graphite called isotropic graphite, and the company also provides graphite-related silicon carbide surface treatments to customers.

The batch automation process systems used to perform these surface treatments are in a busy, tough industrial setting. The multiple vessels involved in the process each require different specializations and careful management.

To control the vessels, Toyo Tanso needed a rugged control system with plenty of I/O options—and one that could be easily programmed and deployed.

Networking can be a complex subject. This guide tries to reduce the complexity by providing guidelines for how you might set up communications between your computer or mobile device and your SNAP PAC control system, including groov.

The goal is for you to be able to monitor and control your system from anywhere you need to, either inside your facility or outside it. It's possible to do this because Opto 22 control systems are built on standard protocols such as TCP and UDP over IP, which are the same protocols used by off-the-shelf computers, routers, and the Internet.

This guide shows you how to communicate with Opto 22’s SNAP PAC controllers and groov using wired Ethernet networks and wireless LANs, both within your facility and over the Internet.

This guide shows you how to use PAC Manager, part of the PAC Project Software Suite, to assign IP addresses, configure I/O, and inspect and maintain Opto 22 SNAP PAC hardware.

I/O coprocessors can be present in the SNAP PAC R-series controllers, and in SNAP PAC EB-series and SB-series brains. Instructions to find out if your device has an I/O coprocessor are included in this README and in the PAC Manager User's Guide.

This document is written in Chinese.

This white paper describes the advent of the programmable automation controller (PAC) and its use in modern industrial applications.

For additional white papers on PACs, see the Guide to PACs.

You've probably heard about the Internet of Things (IoT). But what is it, and how will it affect our businesses?

This primer helps you understand the IoT and the significant challenges we face to realize its benefits.

The primer defines operational technology (OT) and information technology (IT), and shows how they are converging and why. It defines IoT technologies and suggests 3 steps you can take to develop an effective and profitable IoT strategy.

The country of Jordan, with few oil resources, imports 96% of its energy needs from neighboring Middle Eastern countries. Starting in 2007, the Jordanian government committed to investing heavily in renewable and nuclear energy.

One of the universities leading the adoption of renewable energy technology is Hashemite University (HU) in Zarqa. This case study shows how FB Group in Amman designed and built a solar farm with enough photovoltaic (PV) capacity to power the entire university.

Systems integrator Automated Interface Solutions (AIS) used the SNAP PAC System to solve a problem for one of its large customers, a manufacturer of polypropylene film.

Part of the company’s manufacturing process used older Measurex and Foxboro systems, tied by custom software to an Allen-Bradley® ControlLogix® PLC. Parts were becoming difficult to get and the custom software was expensive to change.

AIS installed the SNAP PAC System to replace the older hardware. Opto 22 PACs communicate natively with Allen-Bradley PLCs using the EtherNet/IP protocol. AIS worked with its customer to define all of the process control data it wanted the A-B system to have access to, and then made that data available within the shared memory of the Opto 22 PACs.

In addition, the SNAP PAC System sends data via OPC to the company’s Wonderware® Intouch® HMI, which displays real-time information on scanners, indicates die bolt positions (on or off), roll lengths and averages, and other statistics. Data transfer is accomplished via OPC, and more than 6,400 I/O tags are passed through to the HMI without issue.

This guide is for programmers who are writing custom applications to communicate with Opto 22 memory-mapped devices. These devices include SNAP PAC controllers and SNAP PAC EB and SB brains; G4EB2 brains; SNAP Ultimate, SNAP Ethernet, and SNAP Simple I/O; E1 and E2 brain boards, and SNAP-LCE controllers.

The guide describes how to use the IEEE 1394-based OptoMMP memory-mapped protocol for programming. The guide also contains the complete memory map for all Opto 22 memory-mapped devices.

NOTE: This guide replaced previous individual programming guides for SNAP Ultimate I/O (form #1312) and SNAP Ethernet I/O (form #1227). This document was formerly called the "SNAP Ethernet-Based I/O Units Protocols and Programming Guide."

If you've heard about our Opto 22 SNAP PACs with their built-in RESTful API (application program interface), you may be wondering how you'd use that API to send real-world data to the IBM® Watson IoT® platform.

This technical note shows you how, step by step.

This technical note is also a blog post on our website.

Several SNAP PAC controllers and brains contain a rechargeable backup battery. The battery recharges whenever the brain has power and retains data for an extended period of time with the power off.

You should never have to replace this battery, but if you do, this technical note shows you how.

We’ve all heard about the Internet of Things (IoT) and its promises: bringing useful data directly to people who make business decisions, and enabling machines to communicate with each other and make decisions for human benefit.

But how does the IoT actually work? How does the data get from inside these physical "things" to computer networks where it can be used?

This technical paper describes that pathway for OT (operational technology) professionals—automation professionals. It describes the kinds of data you may be asked to provide and why. It explains how data from physical "things"—especially existing sensors and actuators that have no IoT capabilities built in—can be securely communicated to company computer networks, without disturbing control networks.

The paper also explains concepts important to any IoT strategy, like encryption and authentication, and introduces a new method to achieve the IoT results you need now, without requiring a complex chain of conversion hardware and software.