October 2011 Newsletter

Every Timezone

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CAS 2700-21 Mitsubishi UPS Gateway Device

The Mitsibishi UPS Gateway monitors and controls UPS’s that support SEC protocol using BACnet, Modbus or Web. It cycles though a list of preconfigured tasks to request values from Veeder Root devices. The values are then stored in an internal database. The values can be served in serveral formats, including BACnet IP, Modbus RTU, Modbus TCP, and Web Server.

The driver is configured using a web browser, where the user can configure both the Gateway and the serving capabilities. The web browser can also be used to aid in debugging and can serve the current data to a web page for viewing.

The Mitsubishi UPS Gateway device can be configured from the following web page:
http://<IP ADDRESS>/bin/mitsubishiups/config

Automation professionals will need to have a web browser for web serving, configuration, and debugging. We recommend Firefox or Chrome. Mitsubishi UPS device is required if testing is needed. LogView4net or WireShark are recommended for troubleshooting.

CAS developed this device to support Mitsubishi UPS 7011A, 2033C, 2033D,  9800AE, 9900A and 9900B. It was tested using the DP-A12-1.OK UPS device.

For further information about CAS 2700-21 Mitsubishi UPS Gateway Device, please visit http://www.chipkin.com/cas-2700-21-mitsubishi-ups-gateway

CAS BACnet Explorer Export to EDE file

When using the CAS BACnet Explorer, a user can export the information to an Engineering Data Exchange (or EDE) .csv document.

To export to EDE follow these steps:

Perform a discover action.  Make sure when discovering to also discover the objects and object’s properties.

Right-click a discovered device to bring up the right-click menu.  From this menu, select the Export to EDE menu option to begin the EDE export process.

Enter project information into the text fields.  These fields populate the informational portion of the EDE file.  These fields consist of the Project Name, the Version of the Reference File, and the Author of Last Change.

Click on the Browse… button to open up the file browser.  Browse to where the files will be saved.  Enter in a name for the files (Note: this name is not used when generating the files.  The Project Name is used instead).  Once the location has been selected, click the Save button.  The EDE dialog will be updated with the File Save Location. Tip: Refer to the Note in the dialog.

Check the boxes to select which files to create.  The EDE.csv file contains the list of the device’s objects and properties in EDE format.  The Units.csv file contains a complete list of all units that could be used.  The ObjectTypes.csv files contains a list of possible object types, or in this instance, BACnet object types.

Once all the fields have been completed, click the Export button to begin exporting.  When the export is complete, the directory where the files were to be saved will open allowing the user to view the newly created files.

The files will be generated in the File Save Location.  To view them, simply use Microsoft Excel, or any software that can process a .csv (or comma separated value) file.

BACnet Key Activation

This step-by-step article explains how to activate CAS BACnet Key.

First of all, a user should make sure that he or she has downloaded CAS BACnet Explorer on the computer before activating the BACnet Key.

Then, click to Run CAS BACnet Explorer.

If the product key has expired or is invalid (or during the first time registration), an error message “FYI #017” will pop up. It will explain to the user that a maximum of three free software demo keys can be requested to evaluate CAS BACnet Explorer from the License dialog. Each key expires after 60 minutes upon successful activation.

If user has a valid product key but is still receiving the same error message, please make sure that the USB product key is connected to the computer and then re-start the software.

Otherwise, click OK and the License dialog will pop up. Enter a valid email address here and click “Request a key” button.

Read the instructions on the next screen and click OK.

A webpage with user’s information will appear. Verify the information and click “Request a key” button, it will then bring the user to a confirmation page.

An activation email containing the new product key will be sent to the user. Copy the product key from the activation email and paste it into CAS BACnet Explorer’s Licence page. Then click the “Activate” button to activate CAS BACnet Explorer with this software key to complete the activation process. User will be informed of the expiry date on the next screen.

Each trial key can be renewed three times, however, if a user needs to evaluate our CAS BACnet Explorer for more than an hour or on a different computer, we would suggest purchasing an USB-protection-key to avoid multiple activation processes.

If user did not get the error message in the first place, he or she can still request a new product key from the Licence dialog. It can be done by clicking the “Settings” button on the main dialog, then select “License” on the left hand side.

Please read our useful FAQ, or contact us directly if we can be of further assistance.

Simplex 4100 Configuration

First of all, wait passively for the events to be sent from the panel.

Above image shows Map Descriptors which capture event data from different Cards.

A single point can report 8 states. These 8 states are stored as bits inside a storage word and the word can be served on BACnet or Modbus as a number, or it can be unpacked into individual bits and served bit by bit.

For example:  1?0?0 reports an alarm. The value 1 is stored in the word allocated for this point.
For example:  1?0?0 reports a trouble. The value 16 is stored in the word allocated for this point.

Thus, if 1?0?0 was in an alarm and trouble at the same time, the value 17 = 1 + 16 is stored.

Bit Identifier Description

0    F    Fire Alarm
1    P    Priority 2
2    S    Supervisory
3    T    Trouble
4    U    Utility
5    C    Control
6    D    Disable
7    A    Primary state (based on point type ? F if smoke detector, C if signal circuit, etc.)

For example:

Bacnet Object AI(101) contains the number.

Bacnet Object BI(101) contains the alarm state. The server map descriptor references DA_C_001b (a bit array) is displayed. The bit array gets its data from a Move. Then, the Move unpacks bits from the number values into individual bits.

Note that each BACnet object must have a unique (Type,Object_ID) pair.

When a message arrives from the panel, the driver checks the c-p-s of the xpoint message and looks for a matching Map Descriptor.

Let’s say a message comes from 18-2(-0)  (implied). The driver looks for a Map Descriptor whose card=18, and it finds the Map Descriptor whose name is ZoneData . If it sees in the Map Descriptor that sim4100_sub=1, that means the driver reserves space for 1 subpoint(s) per point. Once the Map Descriptor has been found, the driver knows which Data Array to use.

Thus:  Data Array DA_ZONES offset  0 is for 18-0-0
DA_ZONES offset  1 is for 18-1-0
DA_ZONES offset  2 is for 18-2-0
etc.

If sim4100_sub=10 (instead of 1), this means that the driver reserves space for 10 subpoint(s) per point.

Thus:  Data Array DA_ZONES offset  0 is for 18-0-0

DA_ZONES offset  1 is for 18-0-1
DA_ZONES offset  2 is for 18-0-2
DA_ZONES offset  3 is for 18-0-3
DA_ZONES offset  4 is for 18-0-4
DA_ZONES offset  5 is for 18-0-5
DA_ZONES offset  6 is for 18-0-6
DA_ZONES offset  7 is for 18-0-7
DA_ZONES offset  8 is for 18-0-8
DA_ZONES offset  9 is for 18-0-9
DA_ZONES offset 10 is for 18-1-0
DA_ZONES offset 11 is for 18-1-1

Thus the data for 18-2-0 will be stored in offset 20.

If a message arrives and the driver does not find a matching card, then the message is discarded. The data gets stored when a point status is obtained, the FieldServer will write one word of data to a Data Array.

Microsoft Surface CES 2011 Demo

Beyond touch.

Please visit our Facebook Page to watch the video.