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Steve McLaughlin
Senior Software Developer
Steve is a Senior Software Engineer at FlowFuse. Prior to joining FlowFuse, he worked as an Engineer in the Automotive Industry and has extensive production environment experience. Steve is also a Node-RED core contributor and has written several popular contribution nodes for Node-RED including drivers for communicating with PLC Hardware
Articles by Steve McLaughlin
Deploy Custom-Trained AI Models: Using ONNX with Node-RED and FlowFuse
Learn how to train and export an image classifier model, and integrate it with FlowFuse AI Nodes for low-code inference in Node-RED.
Statistical Process Control (SPC): Benefits and Implementation Guide
Learn how to build real-time SPC charts using Node-RED and FlowFuse for manufacturing quality control.
Building a Flexible Node-RED Scheduler with Cron-Plus
Learn how to create powerful, flexible cron schedules in Node-RED using the cron-plus node within FlowFuse. Go beyond Inject nodes for smarter, time-based automation.
How to Read and Write Siemens S7 PLC Data, A Node-RED Guide (2026)
Learn how to read data from and write data to Siemens S7 PLCs (S7-1200/1500) for industrial monitoring and control. This guide covers PLC setup, the S7 protocol over ISO-on-TCP, addressing, and building dashboards, no deep PLC expertise required.
Creating and Automating DevOps Pipelines for Node-RED in Industrial Environments
Learn how to build and automate DevOps pipelines for Node-RED deployments in manufacturing and automotive industries. Discover practical tips and tools to streamline your deployment process, ensuring efficiency and safety in critical operations.
Using Snapshots for Version Control in Node-RED with FlowFuse
Learn how to use snapshots for version control in Node-RED with FlowFuse. Explore step-by-step guidance on creating, managing, and restoring flow backups to enhance your Node-RED development and save yourself from accidental changes.
Run Node-RED as a service on Windows
Learn how to configure the FlowFuse device agent as a Windows service using the nssm utility. Ensure uninterrupted Node-RED operation on your hardware for manufacturing efficiency.
Modernize your legacy industrial data. Part 2.
A deeper dive into making the most of legacy industrial data from the likes of Modbus and older, non IIoT protocols and putting it to work in an IIoT world.Modernize your legacy industrial data
Learn how to bridge legacy industrial protocols like Modbus to the IIoT era using Node-RED and buffer parsing. Explore data types, conversion challenges, and examples
Use any npm module in Node-RED (2026)
Node-RED has an incredibly rich resource of integrations available, but sometimes you need that little extra. This shows you how.
Chat GPT in Node-RED Function Nodes
Discover how ChatGPT integrates with Node-RED function nodes, enabling automated code generation. Explore the prompt engineering process and additional features.