For the system integrator and the technician who deploys building automation systems, the user interface has changed dramatically since the introduction of direct digital control (DDC) systems. In the beginning, a simple keypad and LCD display were a way to visualize twenty of your favorite points in the system. This was quickly enhanced by the introduction of a larger display and keyboard in the form of dumb terminals. Ultimately, the PC and laptop became virtual substitutes for the dumb terminal and added the capability of remote access (via a telephone line).
Software tools quickly evolved to help model the physical world into a digital database and added the functionality of querying for information you'd like to display. Modern-day software has now taken that one step further with the addition of metadata and advanced user experiences that autogenerate visual displays for both technicians and end users.
Early building automation systems consisted of simply Input Output modules (IO) that connected zone temperature sensors and zone outputs for monitoring and scheduling. The point count and the sophistication were relatively simple in comparison to modern-day BAS workstations, never the less the operator interface was a key part of operating the building.
The supervisory controller typically consisted of an LCD display and push button keypad, which doubled both as the program interface and the viewing device. The system integrator would manually name the points and use a cumbersome menu system to specify which points showed up in the "current display" section of the LCD screen. To use the system, they would need to be on-site to use the keypad to scroll through the individual named points.
The next big advance in building automation displays was the introduction of the CRT monitor and keyboard, better known as a "dumb terminal" (typically a Wyse 100 display). Now, the controller text menus were displayed on a monochrome screen, and the building automation system software was navigated using keyboard arrows or first letter "hot keys."
The next major evolution was the introduction of the PC and laptop interfaces to BAS, initially a software application such as an expensive thick client, which ultimately evolved to free browser-based user interfaces. In these applications, the programming tools modeled the equipment and points as database elements. In order to get the current status or a list of points, a query would be run with the resulting points and values displayed on the screen. The software approach helped virtualize our user experience, but required specific technical knowledge and skills to get the results.
In J2 Innovations' FIN Framework, the Point Graphics app is the modern-day version of the current status for visualizing equipment points as a full graphic display. The manual task of naming, configuring, and mapping points to the user interface is no longer needed because, through the magic of clever programming and the use of metadata, the point graphics are automatically generated. This means that not only are they available as soon as devices are integrated in the workstation, but they are also instantly available for display on any mobile device. And through the use of Edge2Cloud for connectivity, it can be securely accessed remotely.
When integrating devices into FIN, the database records for the equipment and the corresponding points are represented in the engineering tool as a tree, which can be easily navigated to focus from one piece of equipment to another. One of the views that system integrators find helpful is the equipment view, which is similar to point graphics, showing a visual representation of all the points related to the equipment that is selected. From this single view, the engineer can see the point name, live value, and even the metadata tags related to that point. Additionally, hyperlinks provide access to commanding overrides, displaying historical data, and linking to related schedules.
Today’s building automation interfaces have come a long way from keypads and monochrome terminals. By combining rich metadata, intuitive navigation, and automated visualization, tools like FIN Point Graphics and FIN DB Builder give system integrators and technicians the real-time insight they need without the manual effort that once defined the job.
To see how semantic tagging and FIN Framework work together to unlock these benefits in practice, explore our deeper dive on the payoffs of Haystack tagging.