New Products Introduced at Light+Building 2010

Contemporary Controls will showcase several new products at the Light+Building show in Frankfurt April 11-16.  The BAS Remote – a versatile building automation appliance – is even more versatile with firmware release 3.0.  The BAS Router has now become a BACnet multi-network router with firmware release 2.0.  Finally, Power Over Ethernet (PoE) could be in your future plans with the release of the EIPE Skorpion PoE Injector.

The BAS Remote 3.0

The BAS Remote was originally developed as a BACnet/IP Remote I/O device that could connect to an IP Ethernet infrastructure.  With a Modbus serial bus interface, it would route Modbus TCP messages to attached Modbus serial slaves.  With firmware version 3.0, BACnet integration is enhanced because these same Modbus slaves can now be mapped as BACnet objects.  Two utility programs – one called Project Builder and the other Device Profiler – are available for free from the Contemporary Controls’ website to assist in the mapping effort.  If a Modbus profile already exists, there is very little work involved.  Modbus compliant energy meters are very common and with version 3.0, these meters are discoverable as BACnet objects via an IP Ethernet connection.

With version 3.0, the BAS Remote becomes a controller with its resident Powered by Sedona Framework virtual machine.  Application programs developed on either Tridium’s Niagara Workbench or Sedona Workbench will execute on the BAS Remote.  Sedona Framework provides a rich set of function blocks that can easily be connected with “wires” to create control schemes.  Not only can the BAS Remote’s resident I/O be controlled by Sedona Framework but attached Modbus devices as well.

Other features in version 3.0 include the ability to serve up custom web pages, support for Web Services, and the ability to create virtual objects.  To learn more, please visit the product page or read the application guide.

BAS Router

The BAS Router has become very popular due to its simple configuration and its ability to provide a low-cost solution to attaching a BACnet/IP network to BACnet MS/TP.  However, our customers have asked for more and version 2.0 makes this simple but effective router into a multi-network router.  Three-way routing is now possible between BACnet/IP – BACnet Ethernet – BACnet MS/TP.  There are still plenty of BACnet Ethernet systems to connect to; and, foreign devices can now register with the BAS Router.  Other features include additional web pages for BBMD configuration, display of the Broadcast Distribution and Foreign Device tables, an advanced page for working with NAT routers, and access to a diagnostic page to help troubleshoot the router’s connection to the networks.  To learn more, please visit the product page or read the application guide.

Skorpion PoE Injector

Added to the Skorpion series within the "CTRLink – Ethernet for Automation" product line is the EIPE, a single-point PoE injector.  Within the IEEE 802.3af Power Over Ethernet standard, the EIPE Power Injector functions as power sourcing equipment (PSE) and will fully power one powered device (PD) by supplying 15.4 W of power.  The advantage of the EIPE is that it can be powered by a 24 VAC/VDC supply and therefore does not require a 48 VDC source to generate the required PoE voltage.  At the AHR Show, Contemporary Controls demonstrated an EIPE injector powering a BAS Remote Master PoE along with a damper actuator using a single Ethernet cable.  We call this the “single cable solution.” To learn more, please visit the product page.