by Gary Mintchell | Mar 18, 2026 | Interoperability, News, Process Control, Standards
I couldn’t make it to the February forum where the Open Process Automation Forum celebrated its 10th Anniversary. I remember meeting with Don Bartusiak, the instigator, along with Alan Johnston, Tom Burke, Dennis Brandl, and Dave Emerson to discuss standards and interoperability with the new initiative.
OPAF have come a long way. Ten years of developing consensus standards of standards, specification guides, certification testing.
Three engineers from The Wood Group talked with me yesterday bringing the update that I missed last month. Brad Mozisek, Patrick Sloan, and Alex Eaton told me that OPAS is not a science project but a real thing that users are implementing as we speak.
The organization never tried to engineer a new process automation system. They left that where it belonged—with the vendors. The goals included decoupling software and hardware, defining not only open but interoperable systems, and giving owner/operators flexibility to add best-in-class technologies without being locked into a single-vendor situation.
I missed seeing presentations by ExxonMobil, Shell, and Reliance on their projects.
Celebrating 10 years plus seeking to spread the message beyond the US, the organization has scheduled a World Tour. The first is will be March 25, 2026 at 06:00 AM (CDT) | 11:00 AM (GMT) | 16:30 PM (IST).
Speakers: Aneil Ali, The Open Group, Ravi Jagasia, R. Stahl Inc, Jacco Opmeer, Shell, Dominic de Kerf, Cargill, and Luciano Narcisi, ARC
Join us on March 25 for this webinar (hosted by The Open Group) and featuring Members of the Open Process Automation Forum. This webinar will feature European based end user organizations showcasing the business and technical milestones of their O-PAS adoption journeys.
Learn how these organizations are implementing the standard to drive innovation and eliminate vendor lock-in. Register here.
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by Gary Mintchell | Mar 11, 2026 | Generative AI, Networking
I remember Digi International from a couple decades ago as a connectivity company. They went dark for many years, then has suddenly lit up my inbox since the pandemic. This news continues the connectivity path with something my brief acquaintance, Walker Reynolds, told me at the Ignition Community Conference—MCP is the next big thing. I heard from his conference that there was another “next big thing.” I think he was partially right—Model Context Protocol (MCP) for agents and Generative AI is a big thing. And Digi International has launched it as part of their connectivity solutions.
Digi International announced the launch of its new Model Context Protocol (MCP) server for Digi Remote Manager (DRM) and Genesis. This new capability enables customers to securely integrate large language model products such as Claude and other enterprise AI assistants directly with DRM and Genesis, transforming how organizations monitor, manage, and optimize their connected infrastructure and wireless WAN deployments (WWAN) at scale.
The MCP server allows DRM and Genesis users to leverage natural language interfaces to query device fleets, automate workflows, generate configuration insights, and streamline troubleshooting. By bridging enterprise AI tools with Digi’s secure device management platform, customers can accelerate operational efficiency, reduce complexity, and empower teams with intelligent, context aware insights across their connectivity deployments. The solution is designed with enterprise grade security and governance controls to ensure data protection and responsible AI integration.
This launch builds on a series of recent milestones for Digi. The company recently celebrated the successful deployment of a cellular router solution leveraging eSIM technology aligned with GSMA SGP.32 standards, reinforcing Digi’s leadership in next generation connectivity for distributed enterprises and remote SIM provisioning. Shortly thereafter, Digi became the first WWAN connectivity organization to achieve SOC 2 Type 2 compliance, underscoring its commitment to rigorous security, availability, and confidentiality standards for customers worldwide.
by Gary Mintchell | Mar 9, 2026 | Generative AI, Robots, Software
I walked into my local Starbucks this morning for my usual Doppio Espresso with cinnamon powder. I told my barista I was about to listen to a press conference on “physical AI.” “What do you think that is?” I asked her. “I don’t know. Maybe something like robots?” she countered. She saved me doing a deep dive with my buddy Claude.
The press conference was with ABB Robotics and NVIDIA announcing an expansion (for a fee) of ABB’s RobotStudio software to incorporate AI models establishing a new product called RobotStudio HyperReality coming to a computer near you in a few months.
- ABB Robotics integrates NVIDIA Omniverse libraries into RobotStudio to deliver physical AI for industry, closing the gap from virtual training to real-world deployment with up to 99% accuracy
- New RobotStudio HyperReality, available second half of 2026, will fundamentally change how quickly and reliably manufacturers can scale production, reducing costs by up to 40% and accelerating time-to-market by 50%
- Full range and breadth of industrial applications, with real-world pilot being conducted by Foxconn in consumer electronics assembly
- At NVIDIA GTC, the robotic workforce company WORKR will showcase how it’s using the solution to help manufacturers across the U.S. address critical labor shortages
The collaboration focuses on combining ABB Robotics’ software programming, design and simulation suite, RobotStudio, with the physically accurate simulation power of NVIDIA Omniverse libraries to close technology’s long-standing ‘sim-to-real’ gap. Developers can simulate robots in digital twins and generate synthetic data to train their physical AI models, enabling businesses of all types and sizes to deploy AI-driven robotics for various industrial workflows.
Called RobotStudio HyperReality, the resulting physically accurate simulations and foundation models are endlessly optimized with real-world data feedback continuously improving the system. These models can be used to train any number of ABB robots, anywhere in the world, with the reliability and accuracy demanded by industry.
The long-standing deficit between simulation accuracy and real-world lighting, materials and environments is known as the ‘sim-to-real’ gap. For decades, this gap has limited the ability of manufacturers to design and develop advanced manufacturing processes in the virtual world.
By integrating NVIDIA Omniverse libraries into RobotStudio, ABB Robotics will deliver unprecedented robotics simulation and synthetic data generation capabilities that will allow intelligent robots to bridge this gap with up to 99 percent accuracy. ABB is the only robot manufacturer with a virtual controller running the same firmware as the hardware, ensuring near perfect correlation between simulation and real world performance. Combined with ABB Robotics’ Absolute Accuracy technology, which reduces positioning errors from 8–15 mm to around 0.5 mm, ABB delivers unmatched precision in both virtual and physical environments, making it suited to high-precision industrial-grade applications.
ABB Robotics is also assessing the potential to integrate the NVIDIA Jetson edge computing plat-form into its Omnicore controller to achieve real-time AI inference at the edge for its extensive robot portfolio. Today’s announcement builds upon ABB Robotics’ long-standing work with NVIDIA, including the previous integration of NVIDIA Jetson into ABB Robotics’ VSLAM autonomous mobile robots as well as the development of gigawatt-scale AI data centers.
RobotStudio HyperReality will serve industrial clients at any scale, across a breadth of industries and applications, with select customers already testing its capabilities ahead of a full release to ABB Robotics’ 60,000 RobotStudio customers worldwide in the second half of 2026.
Foxconn, the world’s largest electronics contract manufacturer, is piloting the first joint use case in consumer electronics assembly. Automating the assembly of a tiny piece in consumer electronics is challenging, as multiple device variants require different production methods and the delicate metal structure requires precise pick-and-place and assembly control, as well as fine-tuned setup, often demanding additional debugging time and engineering resources. Using RobotStudio HyperReality, Foxconn’s assembly robots are trained virtually, using synthetic data to perfect multiple real-world production processes in various scenarios, before moving them to the production line with 99 percent accuracy. By optimizing production lines virtually, Foxconn will reduce set-up times and costs by eliminating physical training and tests, and accelerate time-to-market for consumer electronics.
WORKR, a California based robotic workforce company that delivers robotic manufacturing solu-tions to industry, is extending the reach of this technology to small and medium manufacturers across the United States. At NVIDIA GTC 2026 (March 16-19, San Jose, CA), WORKR will demonstrate AI- powered robotic systems built on ABB technology, trained with synthetic data using NVIDIA Omniverse libraries, and deployed without operators needing to know any program-ming. By combining ABB’s industrial grade robotics with its proprietary WorkrCore™ AI platform, the company is helping manufacturers address critical labor shortages with its robotic workforce that can learn new tasks in minutes and be operated by anyone.
by Gary Mintchell | Mar 6, 2026 | Process Control
I recently published some thoughts on Overthinking on another of my websites. It fits my thoughts on the Schneider Electric/Foxboro announcements on an “open controller.”
Elias Panasuik, Schneider Electric Sr. Director of Offer Enablement, talked with me yesterday to answer my many questions about this news.
Turns out that Foxboro SDA is essentially a new DCS. Rather than integrated into a traditional tightly integrated hardware/software solution, SDA decouples the software from hardware. This affords a user the ability to find available compute to target the application. The solution can coexist with older systems while enabling engineers to extend into a new process at the plant. What I find interesting is what underlies the thinking—this utilizes a lot of the best thinking from the IT realm used in a distinctly OT environment.
Panasuik told of customers looking for recent computer science grads to fill part of the process control function. The teams should be composed of both chemical engineers and computer science engineers—these latter conversant with things like Python and scripting and security and the like.
Developed by listening to real customer challenges; aging systems, rising costs, and the need to do more with less, Foxboro SDA decouples hardware from software to protect existing investments and enable a smooth, lower-risk modernization path. The result is simpler workflows, faster insights, and sustainable performance gains.
Key Features
• Open, Software-Defined Architecture: Foxboro SDA decouples software from hardware to deliver vendor independence and interoperability, enabling flexible, scalable architectures that simplify
• Cybersecure & Future-Ready: Foxboro SDA is built with secure-by-design principles and IEC 62443-3-3 compliance, delivering a future-ready platform that enables IT/OT convergence, AI/ML integration, and autonomous operations for Industry 4.0 and energy transition.
• Simplify Operations & Reduce Costs: Customers can lower CapEx and OpEx, streamline deployment with intuitive tools, and minimizes downtime by avoiding obsolescence and enabling predictive maintenance.
As the first software-defined distributed control system, Foxboro SDA is a validated, software-defined automation architecture for distributed control systems powered by EcoStruxure Automation Expert (EAE). It enables interoperability, rapid deployment, and fit-for-purpose configurations while maintaining high availability. The system ensures digital continuity by keeping data connected and consistent throughout the plant lifecycle—from design to production to maintenance. This enables automated workflows, better product quality, and easy integration with analytics for smarter, real-time business decisions.
Customers benefit from a future-ready upgrade path, built-in cybersecurity, and simplified operations that support IT/OT convergence and advanced technologies like AI and machine learning. Foxboro SDA provides our customers with a control solution that is unbound by hardware, engineered for agility and empowered by data. It’s more than a system – Foxboro SDA is a strategic enabler for digital transformation.
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by Gary Mintchell | Mar 4, 2026 | Automation, Process Control
I’ve written a couple of news items about ABB and Schneider Electric releasing solutions to ease migration. Both releases left much to the imagination. Schneider is talking with me this week to (hopefully) explain some details behind the news.
Meanwhile, I spotted this article “Hunting the Elusive Snipe” at Control Global by my old process control mentor John Rezabek.
Check it out. It’s a coherent plea for ideas such as from the Open Process Automation Forum to ease a problem with loss of legacy DCS upgrades. What do you think?
by Gary Mintchell | Mar 2, 2026 | News, Technology
I’ve passed along a string of news from Voice AI platform developer Deepgram. This news announces the expansion of the Voice AI platform to Hebrew, Persian, and Urdu.
I guess the unfortunate timing is that Israel (Hebrew) and Iran (Persian) are now at war.
They tell me that this advancement removed one of the biggest blockers to scaling voice AI into the Middle East and South Asia.
These points come from Martine Katz, Senior Product Marketing Manager, Deepgram.
Deepgram continues to expand Nova-3 speech-to-text globally with the addition of three monolingual right-to-left (RTL) languages – Hebrew, Persian, and Urdu – now available in production. Designed for call centers, voice agents, media transcription, and analytics, this release delivers Nova-3 level accuracy, Keyterm Prompting, and production-grade performance for developers building voice applications that support RTL languages across the Middle East and South Asia.
This launch reinforces Nova-3 as an enterprise-grade speech-to-text platform built for global scale, supporting a wider range of scripts and writing systems used in real-world production environments. With Arabic already available, the addition of Hebrew, Persian, and Urdu extends Nova-3’s support for right-to-left languages while preserving consistent performance and behavior across the platform.
As voice products scale globally, teams need to add new languages without adding integration complexity. The addition of Hebrew, Persian, and Urdu to Nova-3 eliminates the need to manage multiple vendors or stitch together separate models—making it easier to expand into new markets and serve customers across the Middle East and South Asia.
Together, these capabilities continue to establish Nova-3 as the foundation for global voice applications operating across multiple languages, regions, and deployment requirements.
She continues with descriptions of the new languages.
Hebrew is spoken by more than 10 million people worldwide and serves as the primary language of business, media, and digital communication in Israel. Modern Hebrew blends ancient and biblical linguistic roots with contemporary vocabulary and fast-paced conversational speech patterns. Hebrew powers call centers, voice agents, and enterprise systems.
Nova-3 Hebrew brings monolingual speech-to-text support for real-world conversational Hebrew, enabling accurate transcription across production voice environments.
Persian (Farsi) is spoken by an estimated 130 million people worldwide, extending from Iran to Afghanistan, Tajikistan, and Persian-speaking communities in the diaspora. Written in a modified Arabic script, Persian is known for rich poetic and contextual expression. Persian is used across media, enterprise systems, and digital platforms throughout the region.
Nova-3 Persian delivers monolingual speech-to-text for modern conversational Persian across voice-driven applications.
Urdu is spoken by more than 230 million people worldwide and is one of South Asia’s most widely used languages across commerce, media, and customer service environments. Written in the Nastaliq script and heavily influenced by Persian and Arabic vocabulary, Urdu reflects a unique blend of linguistic traditions used across regional and diaspora markets.
Nova-3 Urdu provides monolingual speech-to-text support for conversational Urdu at production scale.
Hebrew, Persian, and Urdu on Nova-3 all support Keyterm Prompting, allowing developers to guide transcription toward domain-specific terminology, brand names, product names, and keywords, without retraining models or managing custom vocabularies.
Keyterm Prompting is applied dynamically at inference time, making customization fast and flexible across languages.
This capability is especially valuable for:
- Call centers and customer support systems
- Voice agents and IVR applications
- Industry-specific analytics and transcription workflows
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