Contemporary Controls’ Leads Discussion on the Automation Application Platform at Haystack 2015

March 2015 – Contemporary Controls will be attending the upcoming community-focused Project Haystack Connect 2015 Conference. This year marks the company’s 40th anniversary of designing and manufacturing network automation products. To help celebrate our 40th Anniversary our Network Communications for Buildings book is available to all for download at Network Communications for Buildings. The intent of Network Communications for Buildings is to present the material in a commercial-free format in keeping with the mission of the open-systems movement.

Scheduled at Haystack this year is a presentation by Bennet Levine, R & D Manager, on the concept of the Automation Application Platform. Many companies in our industry provide software applications that run on PCs. Because of this, it is suggested that these companies port their applications to an Automation Application Platform, which is better suited for building automation software applications.

Similar to a PC but more reliable, the Automation Application Platform is hardened for the heavy demands required for building automation. The platform has no spinning hard drives, no fans, and it fits into the enclosures of the building automation system. Like a PC it will have an operating system, hard drive (solid state, not spinning) and ports. However, these ports will be Ethernet, WiFi, EnOcean, EIA-485, etc.

Automation Application Platforms should take advantage of open source projects that assist in the creation of building automation applications. The Linux operating system has a very large community behind it and usually powers most higher-end embedded devices. Open source software such as the open source BACnet stack has been used in many BACnet devices. Other open source projects provide code for protocols such as Haystack, Modbus, EnOcean, SNMP, EtherNet/IP, and KNX. In addition, Raspberry PI, BeagleBoard, Arduino, may be thought of as being Automation Application Platforms. These are all incredible devices; however, they do not provide numerous features such as isolated EIA-485 ports, 0-60C operation, FCC/CE, UL, DIN rail mounting, 24VAC/DC operation, lifecycles required for this industry (hardware that does not change every six months). “However, one advantage provided by application platforms such as the Raspberry PI is the open source community that has been formed to help support these and other similar efforts”, states Levine.

Each feature of the Automation Application Platform can be used by the building automation software application to provide a fully functional BAS solution. Automation Application Platforms are better suited and more reliable as they are designed from the ground up to be used in building automation systems. You will not want to miss this informative presentation.

While at Haystack, learn more about our BACnet/IP unitary controllers that execute freely programmable Sedona Framework wire sheets. BACnet MS/TP and BACnet Ethernet to BACnet/IP BASrouters that bring Spyder controllers up to BACnet/IP without the need to install another building controller. BACnet gateways that make it easy to integrate Modbus RTU to BACnet/IP. We provide the necessary device profiles. You just check-off the points you need. Our web-based graphical head-ends display sophisticated graphics, and support BACnet, Modbus and EnOcean devices. Once up on BACnet/IP, our managed and unmanaged Ethernet switches complete the installation and are designed to co-exist in the control panel with other 24 VAC control equipment.

About Contemporary Controls
Contemporary Controls is your ideal partner for applying network technology to your building automation project. Two thousand and fifteen (2015) marks our 40th anniversary of designing and manufacturing network automation products. With our networking experience, locations around the world, and a reputation for technical support, Contemporary Controls has the expertise required to make your building automation projects successful. For more information, visit www.ccontrols.com, or email info@ccontrols.com.

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