Welcome the PCIe-AC51, a great choice for linking Opto 22 I/O to PCI Express-compatible computers using the Pamux protocol.
This high-speed adapter card can access up to 512 points of I/O along a Pamux bus up to 500 feet (152.4 meters) long.
The PCIe-AC51 replaces the older AC28 adapter card for newer computers that have a PCI Express bus instead of an ISA bus. (The AC28 is no longer recommended for new development.)
The new card is compatible with the following brains:
- SNAP-B4 (SNAP 4-channel digital I/O)
- SNAP-B6 (SNAP analog/digital I/O)
- B4 (G4 or Quad Pak digital I/O)
- B5 (G4, G1, Quad Pak, or integral digital I/O)
- B6 (G1 analog I/O)
For development, use the PAMUX Systems SDK.
If you're doing PC-based control of any kind, be sure to check out the PC-Based I/O Control Overview for system diagrams and lists of compatible I/O.
Have you activated your groov yet? Updates are now available, and you can't get them unless you activate. So do it now!
To activate, go to activate.groov.com and follow the steps. You'll need to know the activation key, which you can find on the label on top of your groov Box.
Once you've activated, you can get your updates. There are two:
- groov Admin update—essentially a firmware update for the groov Box
- groov Application update—updates for the groov software, groov Build and groov View
To get your updates, go to activate.groov.com (if you're not already there) and click the down arrow next to your groov. Each activated groov has its own updates. To find out what's in an update, click its Readme link.
To install updates:
1. Download the update.
2. Before you apply the update, back up your project. In groov Build, click File > Backup project to desktop.
3. In groov Build, click Configure > groov Admin.
4. For a groov Admin update: click System > groov Admin Configuration. Click Upgrade groov Admin. Click Choose file, browse to the file you downloaded, and click Upgrade.
5. For a groov Application update: click System > groov App update. Click Choose file, browse to the file you downloaded, and click Update.
For more details, see the groov User's Guide. Questions? Contact Opto 22 Product Support.
In March 2012 we all followed the news as explorer and filmmaker James Cameron made a historic dive to the deepest part of the ocean, the Mariana Trench.
His submersible, the DEEPSEA CHALLENGER, is a marvel of engineering. It employed new materials and technology to withstand the tremendous pressures and extreme cold of the ocean's depths.
Now the DEEPSEA CHALLENGER is touring the U.S. as it goes to its new home at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute (WHOI).
On its way from the California Science Center in Los Angeles, California, to WHOI in Massachusetts, the sub is on display for public viewing in Dallas, New Orleans, and Washington, D.C. You can track its progress, see photos, and read the blog on the website DEEPSEA America.
DEEPSEA CHALLENGER is shown in the photo above with Cameron, President and Director of WHOI Susan Avery, and Suzy Amis Cameron, in front of the California Science Center. Photo credit goes to our own Ben Orchard, who provided engineering support for the Opto 22 SNAP PAC System that controlled more than 180 systems on board the submersible.
If you're using groov or getting into web-based communications in general (for example, using a TCP comm handle), here are two articles you may find interesting.
HTTP: The Protocol Every Web Developer Must Know—Part 1. This is a basic introduction to HTTP: request and response message formats, status codes, tools you can use to monitor communications, and how to use HTTP in web frameworks and libraries like Ruby on Rails and jQuery.
HTTP: The Protocol Every Web Developer Must Know—Part 2. The second part gets into establishing connections, identifying and authenticating users, secure connections using SSL and certificates, and caching. The short section on SSL and certificates is a good background for understanding groov, which uses both.