This is a new series of various articles using a Virtual PLC called OTee. First, we will introduce account registration, Runtime installation, and project download.

Let’s enjoy FA!

OTee?

OTee is a European company with an international team of 9 professionals (5 in Norway, total of 12 M.Sc. and 3 PhD) with deep expertise in industrial control, software development, AI, cybersecurity, and industrial innovation.

OTee breaks the vendor lock in industrial automation by creating open virtual PLCs in the cloud that can be deployed to run on any hardware with x86 or Arm architecture. and manage operations at scale from a centralized, highly secure cloud environment.

Main Benefits

OTee offers the following advantages:

Cloud-native flexibility

Enjoy all the benefits of cloud software, including automatic updates, scalable resources, and remote access, while avoiding the limitations of traditional desktop installations.

Open and vendor agnostic

Run the OTee Virtual PLC on compatible hardware without the limitations of proprietary systems.

For the future

CI/CD pipeline, role-based access control (RBAC), and zero-trust cybersecurity framework support to ensure systems are secure and future-proof。

How to start?

Implementing a virtual control system is very easy. Simply follow these steps to get started

Create an account and login with Google or Microsoft based SSO
Create a project and connect your device (x86 or ARM CPU architecture)
Program the virtual PLC in Structured Text
Configure Ethernet-based I/O
Compile and deploy
Manage and update your system
And you can try it for free!

Feature

OTee offers the necessary suggestions for modern automation.

Centralized and secure cloud environment with role-based access
Industrial grade open runtime environment
Hardware independent and IEC 61131-3 compliant
CI/CD pipeline integration (currently under development)
Fleet management and zero-trust security
Community-driven library and version management (currently under development)
Protocol support including Ethernet/IP and Modbus

Implementation

Account Registration

Go to the OTee website below and register an account.

https://www.otee.io/

Click Try it now.

You can sign up and login to OTee’s Industrial IoT Platform at app.otee.io/login. If you do not have an existing account, click on the “Don’t have an account? Sign up” link. Here you can set up a secure email and password combination for yourself or simply connect your Google or Microsoft work account.

system requirement

Linux OS
Internet connection and open 7422 port (outbound)
Sufficient CPU and memory to support the desired control logic and cycle time (for smaller projects, most machines can do this! – If using Free Tier, the device must have at least 2GB of disk space and 1GB of RAM)
CURL and tar installed on the OS
Docker and ‘docker compose’ (v2 or higher) installed on the OS (see next info box below)
The current user must be a member of the Docker user group (or use sudo)

Install Docker

Please follow the link below to install Docker.To deploy the OTee vPLC, you will need a hardware device on your network that can run it. This can be an existing physical, open PLC or off-the-shelf hardware that meets the system requirements.

https://docs.docker.com/engine/install/

You can check your OS with the following command.

cat /etc/os-release

You should receive the following response from Terminal

PRETTY_NAME=”Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm)”
NAME=”Debian GNU/Linux”
VERSION_ID=”12″
VERSION=”12 (bookworm)”
VERSION_CODENAME=bookworm
ID=debian
HOME_URL=”https://www.debian.org/”
SUPPORT_URL=”https://www.debian.org/support”
BUG_REPORT_URL=”https://bugs.debian.org/”

So, the Raspbian OS I have on hand is as follows.

Debian GNU/Linux 12 (bookworm)

To add your user to the Docker user group, execute the following command

sudo groupadd docker
sudo usermod -aG docker $USER
// now logout and login.

Adding Devices

Go to OTee’s Online Platform and click on the Devices button.

This is the OTee add device screen.

Click on “Onboard a device” and add the Raspi4 we will use in this article.

The Onboard device popup is displayed.

Set the appropriate Architecture from the Architecture drop-list.

You can check Architecture with the following command.

uname -m

result	meaning	Applicable Architecture
x86_64	64bitのIntel/AMD CPU	x86-64 (AMD64)
aarch64	64bit ARM（Pi 4, Pi 5, etc.）	AArch64 (ARM64)
armv7l	32bit ARM（Old Pi, etc.）	AArch32 (ARM32)

The raspai used in my article is aarch64.

pi@raspberrypi:~ $ uname -m
aarch64

In Architecture, select AArch64 → Save to proceed.

wait for a while…

A CURL command is created to copy and execute from the host device terminal. This will install the OTee device agent and the latest available OTee runtime version on the machine, creating the first virtual PLC!