• Opto 22 announced Oct. 24 a new version of its groov edge appliance that directly embeds key IIoT technologies, including MQTT and OPC-UA drivers. Added to the groov View software for web and mobile visualization, and its open-source Node-RED development environment, the new release offers engineers, technicians and developers a comprehensive set of tools for edge deployment in industrial environments. These new embedded capabilities were made possible by forging close partnerships with technology providers Inductive Automation and Cirrus Link Solutions and are part of Inductive's Ignition Edge Onboard program.
• Advantech reported Nov. 6 that it's partnered with Mitsubishi Electric, Omron, NEC, IBM Japan and Oracle Japan to establish the Edgecross Consortium on Nov. 29 to overcome boundaries between companies and industries to realize collaboration between factory automation and IT. The group reports that it allows easy realization of factory automation and IT collaboration through its open Edgecross software platform that's based on edge computing. By residing on the edge layer, this platform facilitates connectivity between factory shop floors and value chains, while enabling the rapid acquisition, analysis, and utilization of data essential to smart manufacturing.
Related: more industry expansions and contractions:
• Endress+Hauser reported Nov. 8 that it's expanding its portfolio of products, solutions and services in the field of process analytical measurement by acquiring Blue Ocean Nova AG, a manufacturer of innovative inline spectrometers for monitoring quality-relevant process parameters. The company will operate under the umbrella of Endress+Hauser’s center of competence for liquid analysis.
• Emerson and exida released Oct. 31 the DeltaV safety instrumented system (SIS) configurator, which is an exida exSILentia tool that automatically generates DeltaV SIS configurations. By pairing built-in DeltaV functionality with exida’s comprehensive software tools for functional safety, users can develop safety logic configurations much faster and in fewer steps.
