Supporting a wide variety of communication protocols and interfaces, the Nexto Xpress, the first monoblock with integrated I/O from Nexto family, was created to bring performance and high connectivity to the most varied applications in the Industry 4.0. By combining it with supervisory software blending sleek, Altus creates an agile and complete solution to manage the most varied projects in the Building segment. Today, to demonstrate the duo's ability to hand over full control over the operation to the manager, we bring an application case in which the Xpress+BluePlant solution is used to automate a Building Management System (BMS).
In the example, the implemented solution is responsible for controlling and supervising the lighting, electrical and plumbing of the building, optimizing its operation and reducing the high consumption of these resources. For this, we recommend the use of an architecture where Nexto Xpress acts as a central controller, interacting with both supervisory and field equipment. By supporting the main protocols Ethernet communication, the equipment can talk directly to the SCADA system, providing data for decision making and receiving instructions through the OPC UA protocol. The feature also allows the controller to communicate directly with the most relevant cloud hosting services on the market, such as Microsoft Azure, IBM Cloud, Google One and Amazon AWS.
In this case, the BMS system is also responsible for controlling other building subsystems, such as lighting and air conditioning; activating doors, locks, escalators and elevators; fire detection and alarm; as well as management of utilities and energy systems. Here, the Xpress uses its digital and analog I/O points to communicate with sensors, scanners, drives and other smart devices responsible for monitoring and activating field instruments. There is also the possibility of using other product resources to carry out this communication, such as interfaces CAN and USB.
See the table below what the architecture would look like for this demand:
In this application, in addition to resulting in a reduction of around 30% in electricity costs, the control provided by the system would also have the capacity to reduce water consumption and the emission of harmful gases nature, minimizing the environmental impact that the building's operation could cause.
2018 version of BluePlant brings new features
BluePlant gained new features in its 2018 version. Now, Altus' SCADA software has debugging scripts for inserting Breakpoints and a completely remodeled library with new symbols and objects to maximize your experience in creating screens. In addition, the software also supports OPC UA Client and SNMP Manager protocols, native SQL database and maps with georeferencing.
Do you want to know everything about BluePlant and still have the possibility to test the tool? Click here and download the trial version of Altus HMI/SCADA software.
After launching a sequence of modular products, Altus' most advanced line of programmable controllers now welcomes with open arms the Xpress, the first monoblock with integrated I/O in the Nexto Series. Designed to meet the demands of highly connected environments, the solution supports a wide variety of communication protocols, which allows you to interact with smart devices and integrate your business with the IoT universe*.
Do you want to know more about the new Nexto Series solution and discover how it can bring your business into the Industry 4.0 reality? Click here and talk to our commercial team!
