Universal gateway of protocols based on iRidium pro
Working with a large number of installations of automation systems, every time I encountered the difficulties of combining devices that support different protocols. Even if there is already a hardware interface between the protocols, it often supports only a minimal number of functions.
Over time, the problem only worsened. The customer contacts the system integrator to integrate the entire set of equipment into a single system. And even if he is ready (which is rare) to acquire only the recommended equipment, it is still not possible to limit one or two protocols. The boiler, for example, is controlled by KNX, ventilation and diesel generator by ModBus, C-Bus lighting (well, he liked the switch), Russound audio multi-room, Kramer video multi-room, RS232 weather station, UPS via SNMP, M-meter Bus, air conditioning through DIIINet / for something there and so on. Here is a typical picture that I painted to the customer in order to explain that everything in his house is not so difficult:
The normal approach of the integrator is to convince the customer to use one protocol to the maximum, for example, KNX or C-Bus, engineer / accounting for multiprotocol, such as Beckhoff / WAGO, all this together with AV technology should be connected to Crestron / AMX and there you can set up automation. The result is an ordinary house on the ruble, with a serious budget and the only company that knows how this business works.
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Here, the era of the “Internet of things” begins suddenly, when you want to connect another 20 new interesting devices to the system. But this is impossible, because each of them works according to its own protocol and the budget will go beyond all limits. But the “era” is just beginning and chaos is intensifying, despite countless attempts at standardization.
The only big standardization that we have seen on the automation market in recent years is that now every system or piece of hardware has access to IP. This made it possible to realize a long-term dream:
Personally, I always dreamed of a tool that:
1. Give me the opportunity to simply connect teams of different protocols without programming
2. It will be installed on the hardware of my choice, for example, on a server or a controller, which is already on the object
And this is exactly what we did in iRidium pro.
1. We connect blocks:
2. The result is uploaded to iRidium Server , which is installed on Windows (tested on Intel NUC, Compute Stick and many others) or Linux (there are versions for Raspberry Pi, etc.). There are several ready-made hardware versions. In fact, it works, even if you just send it to a smartphone, i3 pro client application on iOS or Android (via the iRidium Transfer utility or the projects section in your personal account on the site), but this is only interesting for a test.
Here is a small video where I add 4 protocols, then link some commands with each other:
This is the first version of iRidium, where there is a block editor. It will be seriously improved and will receive a large number of new features already in the next releases. But now you can add your own logical blocks to javascript through the configuration file. All this in the test mode works completely free of charge (with a time limit) you can try it yourself.
Over time, the problem only worsened. The customer contacts the system integrator to integrate the entire set of equipment into a single system. And even if he is ready (which is rare) to acquire only the recommended equipment, it is still not possible to limit one or two protocols. The boiler, for example, is controlled by KNX, ventilation and diesel generator by ModBus, C-Bus lighting (well, he liked the switch), Russound audio multi-room, Kramer video multi-room, RS232 weather station, UPS via SNMP, M-meter Bus, air conditioning through DIIINet / for something there and so on. Here is a typical picture that I painted to the customer in order to explain that everything in his house is not so difficult:
The normal approach of the integrator is to convince the customer to use one protocol to the maximum, for example, KNX or C-Bus, engineer / accounting for multiprotocol, such as Beckhoff / WAGO, all this together with AV technology should be connected to Crestron / AMX and there you can set up automation. The result is an ordinary house on the ruble, with a serious budget and the only company that knows how this business works.
')
Here, the era of the “Internet of things” begins suddenly, when you want to connect another 20 new interesting devices to the system. But this is impossible, because each of them works according to its own protocol and the budget will go beyond all limits. But the “era” is just beginning and chaos is intensifying, despite countless attempts at standardization.
The only big standardization that we have seen on the automation market in recent years is that now every system or piece of hardware has access to IP. This made it possible to realize a long-term dream:
Personally, I always dreamed of a tool that:
1. Give me the opportunity to simply connect teams of different protocols without programming
2. It will be installed on the hardware of my choice, for example, on a server or a controller, which is already on the object
And this is exactly what we did in iRidium pro.
1. We connect blocks:
2. The result is uploaded to iRidium Server , which is installed on Windows (tested on Intel NUC, Compute Stick and many others) or Linux (there are versions for Raspberry Pi, etc.). There are several ready-made hardware versions. In fact, it works, even if you just send it to a smartphone, i3 pro client application on iOS or Android (via the iRidium Transfer utility or the projects section in your personal account on the site), but this is only interesting for a test.
Here is a small video where I add 4 protocols, then link some commands with each other:
This is the first version of iRidium, where there is a block editor. It will be seriously improved and will receive a large number of new features already in the next releases. But now you can add your own logical blocks to javascript through the configuration file. All this in the test mode works completely free of charge (with a time limit) you can try it yourself.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/393621/
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