Many projects have emerged to develop new ways of harnessing energy sources – Solar, Wind, Fracking, tidal, wave, … the list can go on. We hear a lot of the search for new energy sources, but sometimes don’t think to control our needs in a more efficient manner.
Rayzig has been developed to help control electrical resources we already have, as well as control of new resources as they become available.
The Rayzig system uses low power wireless networking to manage and control the lighting and other energy consuming systems of buildings. A bridge between local buildings can be undertaken with a wired or IP bridge. Remote control can allow central operations for facility management.
Wireless communication between Rayzig modules uses Atmel Atmega128RFA1 devices which contain a microprocessor and a 2.4GHz wireless transceiver. Atmel’s Lightweight Mesh software provides communication protocols based on the IEEE 802.15.4 specification for personal wide area networks. Network transmission uses AES128bit encryption.
The system is able to meet many needs, however, it has concentrated on meeting the needs of commercial and industrial installations.
Central management of disparate Rayzig networks is possible using the Raymon software. This provides large companies the ability to manage and control power operation across multiple sites. It also provides Electrical Power Utilities the ability, with customer agreement, to manage predetermined shutdown of specified power loads.
Rayzig has some outstanding features:
Raymon is a PC-based management application, which connects to a Rayzig network via a LAN/internet gateway module.
Rayweb is a web-server based application to give access to users at different levels, as determined by a central administration role.
Raymon and Rayweb have a powerful, user-friendly configuration editor with a wide range of operational configuration options. The editor can effect real-time operation of remote network power control modules.
Each Rayzig power control module records all received incoming control events – eg switching and level changes. Each record includes the source and type of event. These can be remotely extracted for a range of dates. This information can be used to provide a very detailed analysis of site behaviour.
Each Rayzig module holds descriptive information which includes text fields: description, location, floor and room. This makes a large network much easier to manage than if the modules were just numbered.
The gateway module stores an up to date list of all network modules and their current configuration. Records in the list are automatically updated by configuration changes sent from Raymon.
Low Battery Level notification is shown on the Gateway screen; on Start up of the Raymon Software, or can be checked within the Raymon Software. Failure and Low Battery Level reporting can also be undertaken via email to notify management that a module is not operating, or that a battery should be changed as it is below the set point detailed when the system was installed.
MySQL (MariaDB) is used to provide a repository for module configuration information, event recording, site administration and power load data.
Battery operated input modules control day-to-day system operation. A low power sleep mode gives long battery life. Low battery warning (local and central) removes the need for scheduled battery replacement.
Rayzig has the capability to replace the networking software of all modules via an Over The Air Update (OTAU) system. This process can be initiated remotely.