Inductive Automation Blog

Programmable logic controllers (PLCs) led us into industry 3.0 about 50 years ago. Learn why PLCs are important for our new journey into industry 4.0.

As the morning dew settles and the sun peaks over the horizon, a faint sound can be heard rumbling in the distance. As the sound grows louder, emerging over the ridge, the release train roars into view, firing on all cylinders and bringing with it some exciting new features. Once at the station, Ignition 8.1.10 delivers several new Perspective features, an update to OPC UA and the Vision Module, and other enhancements that will definitely improve your Ignition experience.

PLC to SQL database connections allow the Ignition community to find new and unique solutions for industrial control systems with far less time and money.

Before he founded Inductive Automation, our CEO Steve Hechtman worked as a control system integrator and often encountered the obstacle of being unable to make operations-side data available to the IT side. This inspired Steve and his team of developers to create a tool — now known as the Ignition SQL Bridge Module — that moves data bidirectionally between PLCs and SQL databases using OPC. Since then, members of the Ignition community have used the versatile capabilities of the SQL Bridge Module to implement many creative and effective solutions in their industrial systems. Co-Director of Sales Engineering Travis Cox highlighted a dozen of the most useful SQL Bridge tips in the webinar “12 Ways to Use PLCs and SQL Databases Together.” In this two-part blog series, we’ll unpack each of these tips in some detail.