thing-it-device-bacnet v1.0.0

thing-it-device-bacnet

thing-it-node Device Plugin for BACnet networks to control BACnet devices.

The BACnet Device Plugin is operational for the scope described here which represents a subset of the full BACnet protocol plus thing-it specific usages, such as higher level compelx devices. Contact us if you're interested in connecting thing-it to your BACnet environment and / or supporting additional BACnet features, devices, or objects.

Description

This Device Plugin allows you to

• show and modify values of any BACnet object of a BACnet device via the thing-it Mobile App and the thing-it portal at www.thing-it.com,
• visualize historic data of any connected BACnet object,
• combine data and controls from any other thing-it plugin, and
• define complex scenes, storyboards and timer controlled execution

by connecting an arbitrary number of BACnet devices to a thing-it-node on the same network. thing-it-node can be run on a variety of computers incuding Raspberry Pis and Linux server.

Hereby, this plugin represents basic BACnet Objects such as

• Analog Input
• Analog Value
• Binary Input
• Binary Value
• Multi State Input
• Multi State Value

connected to a generic BACnet Device and communication to those via UDP/IP.

The plugin also supports specific higher level devices, such as

• Thermostat
• Light
• Jalousie

by bundling a series of individual BACnet objects into a logical context.

User Interface Examples

Mobile UI

BACnet Object Configuration

Higher Level BACnet Device Configuration

Dashboard

In a dashboard data from a BACnet device, such as

• a room's temperature setpoing history
• the BACnet device's CPU load history and current value
• the BACnet device's internal temperature history and current value

can be combined with thing-it-device-weather data, such as

• historic outside temperature
• historic outside humidity

Non-Developers

Contact us if you're interested in connecting to your BACnet environment via mobile or web.

Developers

Those who are interested in implementing their own specific higher level BACnet Device e.g. a thermostat with specific state, services and UI from a thing-it-node perspective can still use the BacNetAdapter class under lib in this package to easily implement communication with the BACnet network via IP/UDP.

Contact us if you're interested in helping us support additional BACnet features, devices, or objects.

Installation

Installation thing-it-node

Follow the installation steps at thing-it-node to turn your computer (e.g. your PC, your Raspberry Pi, or a Linux server) into a thing-it Gateway. Installing thing-it-node automatically also installs the BACnet plugin.

After installation follow the instructions to pair your thing-it Gateway with www.thing-it.com and to start the thing-it-node. Use the configuration portal at www.thing-it.com to confirm your thing-it Gateway is properly connected.

Connectivity to BACnet

Make sure that the computer running thing-it-node (your thing-it Gateway) can connect your BACnet devices via an IP connection. As the BACnet protocol uses UPD broadcasts for an initial WhoIs / IAm handshake your BACnet devices and your thing-it Gateway should be on the same network to simplify the setup.

If your BACnet devices and your thing-it Gateway are not in the same network, additional network configuration and/or hardware may be required to ensure broadcasts from the BACnet devices can be seen by the thing-it Gateway and vice versa.

Configuring Devices and Actors

Use the configuration portal at www.thing-it.com to create a BACnet device. You need to know either

• the IP address or
• the BACnet device id

of the device to connect with it. Once your device is connected, you can add actors for BACnet objects or complex higher level objects in the configuration as shown in the UI examples above.

Where to go from here ...

After completing the above, you may be interested in

• Configuring additional Devices, Groups, Services, Event Processing, Storyboards and Jobs via your thing-it Mobile App.
• Use thing-it.com to safely connect your Node Box from everywhere, manage complex configurations, store and analyze historical data and offer your configurations to others on the thing-it Mesh Market.
• Explore other Device Plugins like Texas Instruments Sensor Tag, Plugwise Smart Switches and many more. For a full set of Device Plugins search for thing-it-device on npm. Or write your own Plugins.