Question: Hello Switch Genie, I recently heard something about distributed intelligence. What is it and how does it apply to lighting?
Answer: My grandmother had a saying “waste not, want not.” That is something that has stayed with me all these years. The idea is that if you don’t need something don’t take it. That goes with the concept of “turn off the lights” when you don’t need them.
Distributed intelligence is putting a microprocessor in a device and having it send and receive messages from other devices with microprocessors in them. We do this with our laptops, keyboards, mouse, and printers all the time. Why not have distributed intelligence from our computer to a light fixture or group of light fixtures?
The automatic control of lights can be complicated and costly. The “light litter” from lights being on when they are not needed can be solved by installing a relay and a photo sensor or a time clock. Some photo sensors and time clocks have the relays built in, but it still means that you have to have an electrician find the circuit, locate a junction box and wire them into the circuit. Even then you don’t have an integrated program to do everything you want. The time clock has to operate with the photocell.
The easier solution would be to use a wireless controller to talk to the lights or the lighting circuit directly. The use of a computer with an astrological time clock program set to the latitude of the installation provides year-round control of the lights just to come on at dusk and to go off at any preset time during the night. It can get input from a photo sensor so that if a storm comes during the day the lights go on when needed.
The lighting industry is well behind the HVAC industry in the use of distributed intelligence. Even the big companies are advocating relays, separate ballasts and lots of central controls to be able to communicate from a computer (JACE or PC) to a group of lights.
Logica offers distributed intelligence in lighting fixtures and for lighting circuits. It isn’t new to the HVAC folks, but it is new to the lighting industry. Once you have distributed intelligence you can do almost anything you want using different firmware and software. The hardware is ready to respond.
Call Logica Lighting to curb “light litter”. We’re the Green Marines’ first responder “light litter” assault team!
My Father was always telling me to turn the lights off. He would would be happy to know I am part of the Light Brigade.