Intelligent light fixture group control using intra-group communication

Abstract

An intelligent light fixture system may be disposed in a hazardous environment such as an industrial processing plant, a manufacturing facility, a refinery, and the like in which a primary light fixture controls and / or communicates with a set of one or more secondary light fixtures. The primary light fixture may send drive commands to the set of secondary light fixtures through an analog portion of the hybrid wired communication interface, and the drive commands may cause a driver of the second light fixture to energize an onboard illumination source at various intensities. The primary luminaire may send and / or receive a management message to and / or from the secondary luminaire through a digital portion of a hybrid wired communication interface of the primary luminaire. The smart light fixture system may be a standalone system, or may communicate with a controller or backend system through a wireless communication interface of the primary light fixture, for example to receive control instructions and / or send merged management messages on behalf of the smart light fixture system.

Description

technical field [0001] The present disclosure relates to communication between luminaires, lighting units and / or lighting fixtures in hazardous environments. Background technique [0002] The background description provided within this document is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the present disclosure. Aspects of the work of the presently mentioned inventors within the scope of the description in this Background section and the specification that may not have otherwise qualified as prior art at the time of filing are neither expressly nor impliedly acknowledged as being relative to this Published prior art. [0003] Intrinsically safe and / or explosion proof luminaires, lighting units and lighting fixtures provide general light, ambient light and / or task or focused light in hazardous environments such as industrial process plants, manufacturing facilities, oil refineries, power generation systems, mines, etc. Therefore, intrinsically safe and / or explo...

AI Technical Summary

Problems solved by technology

Additionally, adding wireless connectivity features to existing conventional lighting units can be difficult as the mechanical design of the lighting unit may need to be changed to accommodate the radios and antennas required to enable wireless connectivity

Additionally, increasing the total number of lighting units with wireless connectivity increases the number of wireless nodes within the wireless network, which affects bandwidth requirements and slows down responsiveness over the wireless network

This is especially problematic in hazardous environments where alarms and other critical messages related to spills or other safety conditions within the plant are communicated over the wireless network, as delays in sending such messages could result in already dangerous hazardous conditions in the environment

Images