Buildings cannot be imagined without a system that forcibly provides ventilation to the room. In the process of ventilation, the polluted air flow is released and its complete or partial replacement to clean. Automation of ventilation makes it possible to organize the control of process control, which, in turn, helps to secure the building and ensure energy efficiency. Ventilation automation is different, so in this article we will tell you what their purpose is and what are the features, as well as what characteristics.
Purpose of the automatic system
To date, the ventilation complex has been completely modernized and is a complex instrumental system with a power plant, heaters and channels that provide the microclimate of the room. In order for all components and assemblies to work smoothly, modern engineers supply the system with equipment with sensors and mechanisms. It is due to them that you can control the ventilation in the assembly.
Tasks of the ventilation system:
- Management and monitoring of system parameters: signal breakdown, unsafe modes and other unforeseen operating moments. Modern controllers are connected to the operator in real time. This allows the operator to monitor the operation of all system indicators and set them according to the desired mode.
- Individual analysis of the development of any mechanism and process in general according to the specified parameters through monitoring. The control machine receives the data received by the sensors and conducts a study with computing power. If necessary, makes an adjustment to the overall performance through the signal of the current mechanics or through the start-switch system.
- Protection of the valve part and water circuits of the heating element from freezing. The system thermostat monitors the temperatures of the heaters, preventing them from falling below a critical level.
- Workflow management through mode switching. This is necessary for the rational use of the automatic system due to changes in the load on the premises, weekly daily hours, time of day or climatic conditions. Programs for automatic control of the ventilation system, based on monitoring information, have the ability to use power plants as an addition, complete activities or change the speed of the fan blades, start and turn off air dryers, and so on.
- Blocking of the mechanism in the event of a short circuit or any emergency related to the electronics in order to exclude a possible fire.
Automation in the ventilation system plays a key role and performs a number of necessary tasks; without it, the implementation of all the listed options by the staff is impossible.
The main components of auto-ventilation
The design of an automatic ventilation system requires a rather time-consuming and complex work of engineers, such a process requires not only theoretical knowledge, but also a lot of experience.
Required knowledge:
- similar system structure;
- main parts and main units;
- logical performance and the totality of all parts and devices.
In order to apply the most optimal set of devices for the system and control over it, it is necessary to take into account the range of excellent industries, as well as to have operational experience of such equipment. It will also be useful to study user reviews in order to understand the price-quality ratio of the model today. This will allow you to purchase a high-quality system on favorable terms.
The journal “World of Climate” continues to publish fragments of the new curriculum of the APE of the Educational and Consulting Center “CLIMATE UNIVERSITY” entitled “Automation of heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems”.
Earlier, we described in detail how to work with applications of the modern CAREL c.Suite development environment. Now let's talk about the development of dispatching user interfaces in the c.Web environment.
Custom development dispatching interfaces in c.Web environment
Dispatch tools
The CAREL product range includes various means scheduling at both the local and global levels.
Freely programmable c.pCO family controllers
The c.pCO family controllers, equipped with a built-in Ethernet port, provide direct supervisory capability over the Internet through the built-in web server.
The user interface of the server can be either standard, provided by CAREL free of charge, or custom-designed.
The standard user interface is enough to monitor the operation of the installation, manage it and analyze the behavior of the equipment over time due to the built-in logging function (log) of the values of the selected parameters, followed by viewing them in the form of graphs.
This solution is optimal for facilities with a small amount of equipment, where the budget does not allow installing a dedicated dispatch system server.
BOSS Object Level Dispatch Server
All controllers of the c.pCO family, regardless of modification, have at least one built-in RS485 port, which can be used to integrate the controller into a supervisory bus using the ModBus or BACnet protocols.
Collection, storage, display of information from field controllers and notification of facility personnel about situations requiring attention should be carried out by the BOSS dispatch system server.
The features and advantages of the BOSS dispatch system server are:
- access via any web browser with PC, tablet or smartphone;
- built-in Wi-Fi hotspot allows you to work remotely with BOSS how to mobile device so personal computer;
- if necessary, it is possible to connect a monitor via Display Port or VGA connectors, and also keyboards and mice through USB ports;
- automatic scaling of server pages to the screen resolution of the device, with which is being accessed;
- integrated support for Modbus (Master and Slave) and BACnet (Client and Server) protocols via MS/TP (RS485) and TCP/IP buses;
- the most simplified procedure for deploying a dispatching system based on BOSS for data visualization account with using template pages.
The solution using BOSS is focused on objects where integration into a single dispatching interface of tens - hundreds of controllers, both manufactured by CAREL and third-party, supporting the currently most common communication protocols ModBus and BACnet, is required.
tERA Cloud Dispatch Service
cloud service Using the power of the Internet to interact with field controllers in multiple locations, tERA is a one-stop solution for sites of all sizes, as well as site networks.
Advantages of tERA:
- no need to place any server equipment in the field;
- Access to Internet portal tERA is possible with any device connected to global network;
- not requires special configuration of network equipment on the facility where the automation systems that are supposed to be controlled are installed;
- detailed information on equipment and control options depend on user type set by the local administrator;
- automatic generation of reports schedule, and when certain events occur that require the intervention of maintenance personnel;
- update support software field controllers;
- built-in toolkit for analyzing the behavior of equipment by comparing parameters over time and between different objects;
- the user interface can be either minimalistic, consisting only of tables and graphs, or designed with taking into account the wishes of a particular customer.
The use of the tERA service is especially relevant for networks of small and medium-sized facilities, where it is impractical to use physical dispatch servers due to the small amount of equipment at each of the facilities, and the number of facilities themselves is large, which makes it difficult to connect directly to each of them.
Also, the tERA service is the optimal platform for service organizations that offer their customers services of periodic after-sales service and equipment repair.
User Interface Development Tools
All dispatching tools assume the possibility of creating a user interface designed in accordance with the requirements of the customer.
An important component of the operator's user interface is graphic design, on the convenience, visibility and ergonomics of which the dispatcher's work efficiency depends.
In addition, to modern means visualization of information in BMS systems, there are requirements for ensuring cross-platform and support for mobile devices.
All of the above requirements are met by the CAREL c.Web user interface development environment, which has the following main characteristics:
support for modern cross-platform visualization technologies - standard HTML code and SVG graphics are used, supported by all modern platforms - unlike FLASH and a number of other technologies;
the development process is maximally optimized to use library elements with the minimum amount of programming required. At the same time, an experienced developer is provided with wide opportunities settings;
support for mobile devices is provided in terms of convenience for the operator when working with small screens;
protection of intellectual property - the interests of developers are taken into account - the compiled HTML code is loaded into the target device, while the original project remains with the author;
c.Web is a single unified tool for developing user interfaces for dispatching tools of various levels produced by CAREL, up to the possibility of transferring projects from one system to another with the preservation of functionality and minimal modifications.
c.Web
Launching c.Web and creating a project
To launch c.Web, select the appropriate shortcut in the taskbar and run it as an administrator:
The menu will then look like this:
You should select the Project Console, which will lead to the appearance of the corresponding window:
If you intend to work with an already selected project, then you should click the Builder button. If you want to change the current project, you should press the red button to stop the server.
In the window that opens, specify the name of the new project and the folder in which it will be located:
It should be noted that if files of a previously created project are found in the specified folder, then when the editor is launched, they will be opened as new project. In this way, new projects can be developed based on previously created ones.
and then the Builder button to launch the actual c.Web editor.
If the server has not been previously configured, a parameter window will appear in which you need to assign a server name, address, and type.
In our case, the type should be Carel, and we specify the name and IP address of the target controller based on our own preferences.
On the Advanced tab, you must specify the paths to folders containing tables of controller parameters available for dispatching, and to folders where the editor will place finished project.
If there is a connection with the controller via a local network, it is convenient to upload the finished project directly to the controller using the built-in FTP server, so we specify the corresponding folders in the controller as target folders.
To populate the Config Source field, you must create a controller variable configuration file, which can only be done if you have a source project.
To do this, return to the controller application project and open it in the c.Suite development environment, in the c.design program.
Set the Enable c.Web checkbox - this is necessary for the correct operation of the user interface project after loading into the controller:
Export the project variables in the format corresponding to the c.Web editor:
A window will open in which you should specify the folder where we intend to save the configuration file.
After completing these steps, a message like this will appear:
Since we have made changes to the controller application project, it needs to be reloaded:
Now we can return to setting up the c.Web editor by specifying the path to the folder where the variable configuration file from c.design was saved in the Config Source field:
As a result, the specified window will take the form:
Checking the Cleanup dataroot checkbox will clean the folder where the project files will be loaded into the controller, so if any additional files that are not included in the c.Web project are placed there during operation, they will be deleted. In some cases, this is undesirable, so it is better not to check this box.
On the Layout tab, we will select the appropriate page format, taking into account the screen resolution, on which, most likely, the created user interface will be displayed:
After clicking OK, the main editor window will open:
Getting Data Points and Binding to Objects
The first thing to do is to upload information about the data points that we plan to use in our project. To do this, right-click on the project name and select Acquire Datapoints:
Upon successful completion of the procedure, the following window will appear:
The read variables can be seen in the OBJECTS section of the project tree:
Let's start creating the actual user interface on the Main page. Let's move the Circular Meter object from the library to the project page:
The properties of the selected object are displayed in the corresponding editor window. To bind a variable to an object, you must use the Base property to display the value of the variable.
Let's bind a variable containing the value of the current temperature to the existing object:
And change a number of other parameters that determine appearance and object behavior:
Download to controller
To make sure that the variable import mechanism worked correctly, let's load the resulting project with one object into the target controller.
To do this, right-click on the project name and select Distribute:
Upon completion, by opening a browser and specifying the IP address of the controller, we can verify that the download was successful and the data is displayed correctly in the controller web interface:
To change the titles of the web interface pages, modify the corresponding line in the code of the index.htm object located in the Library - ATVISE - Resources section:
Let's add an object to our page that allows not only viewing, but also changing the values of variables in the controller.
Such an object can be, for example, Read/Write Variable - it is especially convenient for use on touch screens, as it contains large buttons for decreasing and increasing the value, as well as a slider.
Let's place the specified object on the page, bind the temperature settings to the variable and modify the object's appearance in accordance with our preferences:
After uploading the updated project to the controller, it will be possible to change the setpoint via the web interface:
Let's add a switch to change the state of a discrete variable and bind it to turn the unit on and off:
Dynamic alarm indication
Let's add an alarm indication. To do this, draw a circle using the Add circle tool.
For a number of graphical objects in c.Web there is a set ready-made templates, in particular for circles: by selecting a circle and choosing Templates from the menu, you can apply the template format to the selected object.
Let's make the circle red with a gradient fill.
To change the state of the alarm indicator depending on the situation, we will use the Add Simple Dynamic mechanism built into c.Web.
In the EVENT item, we specify the value of the alarm state variable, and in the ACTION item, let's compare the alarm presence state - the blinking of the selected object and the state of its invisibility in the absence of an alarm.
In fact, the Simple Dynamics mechanism is a wizard that, using simple visual means, allows you to create certain sequences of actions that require programming. Simple Dynamics allows you to simplify this process, but the output is a script that can be used as a basis and further manually modified by the developer.
To display and edit the script, click the Script button on the c.Web panel:
The resulting script can be analyzed and supplemented.
For a more detailed notification of the operator about the presence of an alarm, it is advisable to add an acoustic signal to the visual notification - a flashing red indicator.
To do this, add a file containing an alarm to the Resources folder:
In addition, let's add one more indicator - green, which should glow when there is no alarm:
Let's set the dimensions of the green indicator to be the same as the red one, and for the exact location of both indicators one above the other, we will use the alignment tools:
Let's modify the script as follows:
More information about available commands and script syntax is available in the built-in help.
Let's add one more controller, which we will bind to a variable that determines the threshold for triggering an alarm.
And add labels to the display and control elements:
To improve the aesthetics of the created web interface, let's add a gradient background using the Add Rectangle tool in the c.Web control panel.
Let's set the parameters of the rectangle and place it under the existing objects:
After loading into the controller, the web interface will look like this:
Embedding Ready Pages
Further expansion of the functionality of the web interface is possible using ready-made templates available for download from the c.Web section of the ksa.carel.com portal:
In particular, ready-made pages are available showing the built-in display of the WebpGD controller, log and alarm graphs.
To apply these templates, the corresponding files must be uploaded to the controller's file system via FTP. To do this, you can use the FileZilla program:
The previously downloaded folders should be prepared for copying to the controller's HTTP folder.
If the web interface has already been loaded into the controller up to this point, this folder will not be empty, and the template folders should be added to the existing files:
Upon completion of the data transfer process, the HTTP controller folder will look like this:
To use the templates, it is proposed to add to home page menu user interface with three items: WebpGD, Trends and Alarms.
Let's also add a new page, naming it WebpGD.
In the File menu, select the Settings item to configure the parameters of the new page:
Set the page dimensions to 900 by 500 pixels, then use the Add Foreign Object tool:
Let's draw a 460 x 800 px rectangle - this is the area where the controller screen and control buttons will be displayed.
By clicking on this zone, we get the window for editing the script of the object, where we add the command for accessing the previously loaded template page: