Arduino Opta Lite [AFX00003] - Compact Industrial IoT Controller with Digital I/O, Analog Inputs, Modbus Support, and Edge Computing for Automation & Control Systems

I purchased the Opta Lite with hopes it would be a solid / user friendly product that can be used for small projects and to help teach others who want to use it for basic PLC operation and programming to get beginners into automation. I was unfortunately severly disappointed. There are two IDEs that are used to operate the device from Arduino - Arduino IDE and Arduino PLC IDE. In order to get to where you can actually use the PLC for it's intended purpose by using the typical programming languages to build it's functions, you have to start by connecting to the PLC. This is a significant issue that I have yet to solve. The documentation leaves out important information for setting up communication and does not provide good troubleshooting steps to connect. Without thorough and complete documentation or customer support, this product doesn't do the bare minimum of bringing the customer to the basic setup of its logic. Perhaps this product was released too soon before working out bugs or before adequate documentation could be completed, but either way it was a complete waste of $150 and would serve better as a paperweight. When I tried to reach out to Arduino to get support, the only page that allowed contact info to be filled out would not actually allow me to click on the boxes or fill them out (I tried multiple browsers and even mobile). Support is clearly behind the curve for Arduino. I hope Arduino can solve its issues instead of continuing to market an unusable product.

Nice little package. USB-C and Ethernet connectivity are promising for deployment, but.. the IDE: my god. If they were hoping to get industrial buy-in on this, they really missed the mark. Download Arduino IDE. Install tools for the Opta. Install Opta PLC IDE. Read instructions twice. Watch the software fail to compile/connect repeatedly. Read forums. Execute suggestions. Fail again. I should have a squeaky nose and a water spraying lapel flower after all the hoops I just jumped through trying to make any headway. Two computers. Three versions of their tools.. nada. This’ll be shelved. Maybe I’ll look into it again after a year or two, after they get this sorted, if they haven’t abandoned it. I really wanted this to work. Was looking for a sub-$200 micro plc that didn’t also require some stupid proprietary cable for programming since this is for a DIY home project. Good thing I’ve got some other PLCs laying around the office I guess I’ll use instead. I know they work and will continue to work without any BS.

It seems as if this product has great potential but it appears that it is out the door prior to good documentation being created! In getting an industrial PLC you shouldn't have to hunt for the information to such a degree. Again, it appears that it has potential but more documentation is needed!