When a lighting OEM bids for a project, it is often required to include a compatible lighting control system (usually from a third party lighting control supplier) in the proposal. The control system requirements are specifically assigned to the lighting OEM. To date, many lighting OEMs have responded passively to these requirements without developing a formal proactive strategy for lighting control.
Should we not wait for a set of global lighting control standards?
The main reasons for failing to implement lighting control strategies are confusion, confusion about which technology to use, and which suppliers they are investing in, especially for lighting control systems for indoor commercial and office environments. Most lighting OEMs do not have the time, resources, or expertise to evaluate the benefits of all lighting control technologies.
For residential lighting control (ie smart light bulbs), the mainstream agreement is clear, ZigBee Light Link is the winner in this respect, and multiple lighting OEMs support the agreement. However, for indoor commercial and office lighting control, technology choices are still changing and the number is growing. Many lighting OEMs are choosing to wait for a dominant or de facto standard to avoid choosing inappropriate technology at an early stage.
There are many options for lighting control technology, which may be very confusing for OEMs that require the development of compatible control systems.
There are three main reasons for the lack of a dominant global standard.
The first reason is that the main lighting control technology and/or main LED driver dimming signals vary from region to region. For example, 0-10V is the main LED driver dimming signal in North America, while DALI (Digital Addressable Lighting Interface) and Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) dominate in Europe and Japan respectively. From the perspective of building automation systems, KNX is very popular in Europe, although BACnet seems to be a dominant global agreement. Therefore, it is difficult for lighting OEMs to rely on a single technology in order to accommodate end customers in various regions.
The second reason is that lighting control equipment varies with complexity. On the one hand, some devices simply require an inductive sensor to provide a signal to the LED driver depending on whether or not someone is in the room and decide whether to turn it on or off. If there are multiple devices in different rooms throughout the building, no gateways connect them to a centralized control system, and these simple systems operate independently. On the other hand, there is now a centralized lighting control system that manages, monitors and controls the entire building, even the entire city, the entire country, or the lighting of multiple buildings worldwide. The types of technologies that are commonly used to make these simple and complex systems tend to be significantly different. Therefore, this is another challenge for OEMs who rely on a single lighting control technology.
The third and most influential reason is that lighting OEMs do not specify lighting control technology for any given project. This is the responsibility of the decision maker, architect, building owner or construction manager.
Given these challenges, what should lighting OEMs do when choosing lighting control techniques to develop active lighting control strategies? The answer for many lighting OEMs is wait because the standards and complexity are to be determined. The actual situation is that there are many choices. According to the application, certain criteria can be evaluated to determine the best solution to be achieved and the order is finally won. The choice of lighting control technology is based on the following five criteria: flexibility, interoperability, simplicity, scalability, and proven technology.
Flexibility and interoperability
All lighting control technologies fall into one of two major technology categories: patented or open technology. The use of patented technology from a specific supplier's product can only be used in conjunction with other products from the same supplier. Lighting control companies that develop proprietary technologies have been following this business model because of their technology-driven value proposition or because of their strong market channels (especially for mature companies). The patented technology can be applied to specific lighting control projects with good technical adaptability, or the patented technology is directly designated as a lighting control solution.
In contrast, open technologies are based on open or public standards, allowing multiple companies to develop products that use the same basic protocol; products from different vendors can interoperate as systems work. As a result, open technologies provide lighting OEMs with the flexibility to choose between multiple suppliers, blending and matching solutions based on functionality, form factor and pricing to meet end customer lighting control requirements.
Open standards for lighting control can combine different products and building systems designed by multiple suppliers using the same protocol.
There are two main open technologies for lighting control in indoor commercial and office environments: EnOcean and ZigBee. EnOcean is the first and only ISO/IEC wireless standard optimized for ultra-low power consumption and energy harvesting solutions (14543-3-10). As a result, lighting OEMs using EnOcean technology can benefit from the need for power supplies and batteries, wireless switches and sensors.
EnOcean mechanical energy collection module can convert mechanical energy (such as the mechanical energy of the finger pressing switch) into electrical energy and supply the work of the module. It can be applied to wireless passive switches and other products. The EnOcean Alliance currently has more than 350 members from around the world and a total of over 1,300 interoperable products.
ZigBee is based on the IEEE 802.15.4 standard. 802.15.4 defines the physical layer and MAC layer. ZigBee defines the network layer and application layer. All ZigBee-based or 802.15.4-based lighting control providers (except one) want to customize ZigBee or develop patent-based 802.15.4-based protocols. This is due to the inherent complexity of ZigBee in indoor commercial and office lighting environments.
In fact, ZigBee is more like a patent agreement because most lighting control products using ZigBee or 802.15.4 cannot interoperate between vendors. The only exception is a supplier that adds ZigBee's extra intelligence to its gateway. As a result, endpoints (switches, controllers, sensors) of non-customized ZigBee from different vendors can interoperate with the vendor's gateway, but this in turn limits the choice of lighting OEM vendors for gateway vendors.
Figure 3 shows various options specified by architects, building owners, or building managers from the perspective of dimming control, standard communications, and building automation systems (BAS). For example, a given project may require the lighting control system to support a BACnet BAS with occupancy and lighting sensors, where the luminaire must be controlled by the DALI signal. Alternatively, the specification may indicate that the lighting control system must be controlled and monitored by smart phones and tablet computers, where the lamps are controlled by 0-10V signals.
If the technology or supplier chosen by the lighting OEM is not flexible enough, the lighting OEMs will eventually be forced to use multiple technologies from multiple suppliers. This puts pressure on resources, especially sales and sales representative teams of lighting OEMs, who must give lighting equipment and control solutions to end customers.
In an open technology-based system, the use of existing interoperable components allows flexibility in lighting control.
Simplicity and extensibility
Some end customers, such as building owners and building managers, do not want to incorporate a BAS or centralized lighting control system that can be controlled, configured and monitored by computers or mobile devices. Instead, these end customers prefer to limit the lighting control solution to the LED driver switches, sensors and controllers (typically 0-10V relays and DALI controllers) without the need for a gateway or complex network equipment. In other words, these end-users want to provide a simple, independent lighting control system in every room in each building.
Currently, there are two main options for a simple stand-alone lighting control system: the first one comes from a complete proprietary lighting control supplier, and the other is EnOcean technology. In contrast, currently available ZigBee-based or 802.15.4-based lighting control systems require the use of gateways or network devices. Using a stand-alone system, the operation can be as simple as pressing a button on a wireless switch, like pressing a button on a wireless controller. There are also options for operating with a wireless USB dongle for some lighting control systems with PC software to fine tune certain wireless device (ie sensor and controller) settings.
Assume that the owner or manager of the building decides to use the BAS, or wants to use the PC/smartphone/tablet for centralized lighting control, setting, and monitoring, months or years after installing a simple stand-alone lighting control system. EnOcean technology seamlessly and easily converts from a simple stand-alone system to a scalable network system without changing the existing lighting control system. The ZigBee-based and 802.15.4-based lighting control system can be extended to a complete building or even multiple buildings, but the starting point always requires a gateway or network equipment.
In this example, EnOcean can support a simple, scalable lighting control system with a single technology.
Proven control technology and support
Building owners and construction managers often don't want their buildings to be a testing ground for emerging technologies. Therefore, the lighting control technology that lighting OEMs promote for the project must be a mature technology.
Leading ZigBee and 802.15.4 lighting control providers each have a user base of hundreds to thousands of buildings. The EnOcean Alliance stated that EnOcean technology has been installed in more than 350,000 buildings around the world.
Although ZigBee and 802.15.4 technologies are very reliable and have been confirmed in actual scenarios, the availability of EnOcean technology in the international market may increase the chance that lighting OEMs will continue to win projects in different regions of the world. Therefore, as more and more lighting OEM manufacturers sell their lamps in multiple markets, lighting OEMs can understand and promote different technologies based on the location of the project.
A Concrete Mixer (also called a cement mixer) is a device that homogeneously mixes cement, aggregate such as sand or gravel, and water to form concrete for construction by the revolving drum. For smaller volume works, portable concrete mixers are often used for its compact and lightweight appearance and high efficiency at the construction site, giving the workers ample time to use the concrete before it hardens. Classified by the power type, we have electric concrete mixer and diesel concrete mixer for choice.
Functions of Concrete Mixer:
1. Uniform the components in macro and micro
2. Destruction of cement particles and promote the development of dispersion
3. Destroys the initial hydrated film coating of the cement particles surface.
4. Promote collision and friction between material particles and reduce the impact of dust film
Description of Concrete Mixer:
Type: Hand-pushed Type/Horizontal Type
Mixing Capacity: 90L-350L
Voltage: 220--240V 50HZ 110-120V 60HZ
Thickness(Upper/Lower): 1.5/2.0mm
Insulation Grade: IP45
