Allen Bradley to Opto 22 Conversions

Jun 5

With the supply chain issues plaguing the world the past few years, we have worked with a number of companies who want more reliably available PLC options.

It is no secret we have really enjoyed the plethora of solutions from Opto 22. Not only are they made in the USA in Temecula CA, but they have had MUCH more reliable lead times even during the worst hardware shortages.

There are many aging PLC systems in the field—including completely obsolete PLC-5 and SLC systems, and older ControlLogix and CompactLogix systems which can’t use the latest firmware revisions. This alone is why many companies want to upgrade their PLCs. Upgrading to newer hardware can reduce overall licensing costs while leveraging modern technology like MQTT, integrating with Unified Namespaces. Some of these new PLC solutions will even allow you to build custom mobile applications which can use push notifications.

Building on top of the powerful Ignition SCADA Conversion Tools we released last year, we are now excited to announce our Allen Bradley to Opto 22 Conversion Tool!

What Is The Opto 22 Conversion Tool?

Much like our automated SCADA conversion tools that we use to convert projects in legacy SCADA platforms to Ignition, our Opto 22 conversion tool helps speed up the process of migrating from Allen Bradley PLCs to Opto 22’s groov EPIC and RIO hardware lineup.

What if you need to upgrade your legacy Allen Bradley hardware that’s running well beyond its support lifespan—and learn that new Allen Bradley hardware has a 6-12 month lead time? We can now help you migrate to Opto 22 hardware in a fraction of the time. Opto 22 hardware is usually immediately available, and we can even help spec out and order everything need to get started as part of the conversion. Then you’ll be up and running with a truly modern PLC solution you can use for the long term.

While Opto 22’s groov lineup can run your process controls, it also simplifies digital transformation with powerful tools like MQTT, Sparkplug B, Node-RED, and Ignition built into the platform.

Plus, the Linux operating system behind all of the awesome groov hardware can perform double duty as a VPN appliance! Opto 22 hardware can even integrate with legacy protocols like Modbus RTU using the power of Node-RED, and you won’t even need to purchase a separate module like Allen Bradley’s solutions require.

Why Conversion Tools Are a Great Option

Conversion tools make conversions easy in a number of ways.

First, they accelerate the process since most of the tedious setup and migration work is automated. For PLC programming, this includes tasks like migrating tag structures, generating all of the logic, and validating everything correctly.

This creates a solid foundation in the new platform right away.

Second, by converting everything in a fraction of the time building it manually, our engineers are free to review everything with a fine toothed comb and make improvements across the entire project.

While we’ll typically improve naming structures, in the case of a PLC-5 or SLC migrations, we may be implementing a tag naming structure for the first time. Other improvements include implementing AOIs to standardize code across the project, finding bugs, and streamlining all of the workarounds added to the code over the life of your legacy PLCs.

Conversion tools make it easy to convert your existing process, and with the power of modern technology allow you to improve that process along the way.

What Do You Need to Get Started?

Similar to our SCADA conversions, we typically only need two things from you to get started:

(Optional) A Non-Disclosure Agreement (NDA) - This is usually required by our customers, so we always suggest it as step one. But, if you don’t need one, that’s great!
A backup of your project. A backup allows us to dig into what you have to assemble a scope of work and proposal so that we can get started with you on the implementation as soon as possible.

Next, we put together the project, set up a purchase order, and execute everything per the overall project plan. Once we’re ready to validate the new project, we will work with your team to test everything in a simulated production environment. Then, once your electricians have everything wired up, we’ll perform a full I/O checkout, followed by a commissioning and validation process.

Once the project is deployed, we will train your team to use and manage it. From there, we are always available for support.

Wrapping Up

Our goal is to make manufacturing easier. Modern technology and tools like Opto 22’s groov hardware can be a great leap forward for anyone struggling to use and maintain an aging control system. Combining Opto 22 groov hardware with Ignition is an even more powerful package. Either way, we can help get you up to speed quickly and easily with our conversion tools that handling the bulk of the work automatically.