Press Releases

groov industrial appliance for remote control and monitoring of automation systems in stock at RS Components

Facility and maintenance engineers can build and view groov operator interfaces to provide secure and simple control of industrial equipment via their smartphones, tablets or PCs

Singapore, 22 September 2015:

RS Components (RS), the trading brand of Electrocomponents plc (LSE:ECM), the global distributor for engineers, today announced availability of the new groov Box industrial appliance, which enables maintenance engineers, facility and automation managers, as well as service companies, to easily and securely monitor and control just about any automation system or equipment from devices such as smartphones, tablets, PCs or smart TVs.

Developed by Opto 22, groov is a web-based way to build and view operator interfaces to monitor and control automation systems and equipment, and requires zero programming or coding. It allows access to system data from anywhere a network is available and also allows users to receive real-time notifications based on configurable events. The groov system is also secure, as all communications are encrypted over HTTPS and all connections need to be authenticated with username and password.

Developed as an Internet of Things tool for the Industry 4.0 paradigm for smart factories, the groov Box is a hardware/software solution that means that a PC is not required on site and is therefore ideal for deployment in manufacturing and automation facilities or remote sites where there are very low levels of IT equipment or infrastructure in place. The appliance has a rugged and solid-state fan-less design, operating across a 0 to 70° C temperature range, which makes it well suited for deployment in harsh industrial environments. Offering a compact footprint with dimensions of just 106 x 171 x 33 mm, the groov Box also features gigabit Ethernet interfaces and USB expansion for wireless LAN interfaces.

In addition to the groov Box appliance, groov is also available via software download: groov Server for Windows has a small software footprint for use on Windows-based PCs and is ideal for facilities with PCs or an IT infrastructure. The groov system can be connected to Modbus/TCP devices and Opto 22 SNAP PAC controllers directly, or to devices from other manufacturers through an OPC-UA server, allowing easy and simple monitoring and control of PLCs and SCADA systems.

Featuring a drag-and-drop interface, groov requires only a popular web browser such as Google Chrome, Firefox or Internet Explorer to enable the building and viewing of mobile operator interfaces. The groov software tools include: groov Build, which provides a collection of gadgets for developing a graphical on-screen operator interface; groov View, which runs an operator interface that resides on a groov Box or groov Server and can be accessed using the groov View app on an iOS or Android smartphone or tablet, or on other devices such as PCs or TVs with a web browser and a network connection to groov; and finally groov Admin – included with the groov Box – which provides the tools to back up and restore projects, update software and firmware, or set up wired and wireless networking.

The groov Box industrial appliance is available now from RS Components.