Capstone Update February 8, 2019

Greetings,

One of the groups have finished linking up to cloud and now we have a way to send data, our group is going to be doing something else. We are planning to create a simulation of a smart building which includes the different projects of what everyone is doing. This will be essentially a base framework which can replace all the simulations that we will be creating virtually with the completed capstone projects, for example, our lighting simulation will be replaced by the condominium lighting groups project. This base framework will involve, integration, energy management, smart building, connection to cloud and multiple other areas.

The tools we will be using in this project, will be the following which does not include everything as we are still expanding upon it.

- 1 EasyIO
- 1 Reliable ProCom
- 2 BASpi
- 2 Raspberry Pi
- 3 LED lights
- 3 VAV boxes
- Thermistors
- Photocells
- Shaders
- Multitude of wires, cables, capacitors, diodes and resistors
- Router and Switch
- Current transformers
- Voltage Regulators

The EasyIO will be mainly used for Lighting Control, Reliable for HVAC, BASpi and Raspberry Pi for security and we will be running a dashboard on the EasyIO. The connection we will be using will be BACnet  IP and potentially BACnet MS/TP if required. The reason we use EasyIO to set up the dashboard is because EasyIO graphics is easier to use and has more aesthetic appeal than Reliables graphics.

This week we started on the Lighting, HVAC and Security portions of the programming. For now, we have implemented Bi-Leveling, and a master switch. We are planning to implement dimming as well as scheduling once we have obtained and connected the LED lights.

Programming for Lights on EasyIO

The HVAC portion we will be using Reliable and 3 VAVs, one for exhaust, one air conditioning and the other for heating. Currently we have only one of the VAVs so we have implemented it as exhaust. By running a BACnet network, we can discover our devices and we can grab data points which we will do so we can overlay all the data onto one dashboard from EasyIO. For the HVAC, we are planning to implement dampers to control airflow as well as have the VAV.

Programming for HVAC equipment on Reliable

From the EasyIO we set up a BACnet service and client in order to request data from the Reliable and from there, we can use it to set up a PID loop, schedule or other different ways of programming it to save energy. From the EasyIO we can also modify the set-point of the VAV, this will give us more options to control it.

Data points from Reliable on EasyIO

For the security, we are planning to use a RaspberryPi using a people counter, this way we can count the number of people entering the building and exiting the building and once it comes to night time, if someone enters the building the alarm will trigger, we may use the DSC system.