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GEN 2 - DALI - Groups

GEN 2 - DALI - Groups

How to enable DALI groups

The Renson Smart Living system supports the use of DALI groups. These groups must first be configured using the Lunatone Cockpit software followed by programming some bytes in the eeprom of the Gateway. Maximum 16 DALI groups (0 to 15) can be used for the whole system.

Programming DALI groups using the Lunatone Cockpit software

The Lunatone Cockpit software allows you to configure the different DALI ID’s into certain groups. Just connect Connector A to your RS232-USB convertor and start the Cockpit software. Go to the configured DALI ID’s where you can select to which group it should belong.

Please keep track which DALI ID is configured to which group since you need to program them later in the eeprom of the gateway. Also keep track which DALI ID corresponds to which Renson Smart Living Output number.

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In the above example, you can see that the device with DALI ID A10 is member of DALI Group 0 and 10 in other words, when DALI Group 0 or 10 are switched ON or OFF, the Output with DALI ID A10 will follow the group state.

Once the programming is done, reconnect Connector A and B so the DALI Network is again coupled to the CAN Control.

Note: The 16 groups are used for all connected DALI networks in other words, if you are using for example 4 CAN Controls which have 4 connected DALI networks, switching off group 0 will switch off all DALI ID’s that are member of Group 0 of the 4 DALI networks.

Programming the DALI groups in the Gateway

It's possible to switch ON, OFF and DIM light groups. A light group is a series of lights that will change state at the same time. In total, 32 light groups can be created with a maximum of 64 lights per group. These lights can be normal outputs (dimmed and non-dimmed), switched outputs but also DALI groups can be used. For more information about groups, please see Light Groups.

This section describes the use of DALI groups.

With the Lunatone Cockpit software, as described above, you can create DALI groups. When a Light Group is activated (By using Basic Action 73 or 74 for example or by coupling with virtual outputs as described in Light Groups), automatically, the same DALI group number is actived on all connected CAN Controls so the appropriate DALI Group instruction will be sent as well.

Since the light groups are programmed directly in the eeprom of the DALI devices itself (by using the Lunatone Cockpit software), the Renson Smart Living system doesn't know which devices are part of each DALI group that is used and thus will not know the state of these devices. 2 possibilities:

  • The DALI outputs are linked to system outputs. Those system outputs are entered in a light group. See Setup Individual DALI Outputs and Light Groups. This solution is not a good solution for groups with a high number of outputs that must be dimmed simultaneously.

  • The DALI outputs are put into different DALI groups by using the Lunatone Cockpit software. Once this is done, a Virtual Module is created and the Group is linked to one of the Virtual outputs. Commanding this Virtual output will command the full DALI group (See Light Groups for DALI). This is the best solution for a high amount of outputs that must be dimmed simultaneously or for industrial applications.

For more information, see the Dali Group section in the Memory Model pages 104-111.

Notes:

  • The output NR (0-239) is different than the DALI ID (0-63). To program the DALI groups in eeprom page 104-107, the Output Nr is used so you have to keep track of the link between the DALI ID and the Output Nr.

  • When using different DALI networks (and thus different CAN Controls), the same groups (0-31) can be programmed in the different DALI Networks. When for example you switch ON group 5 (Basic Action 73 5), it will activate group 5 on all DALI networks connected.

  • When the Output Nr's are programmed for a certain group, start at the first place (for group 1 for example at byte 64) and program the rest at the following eeprom places, do not leave places open and then program an output Nr. When the system checks the eeprom, it will stop checking when an empty place (with value >239) is found.

  • The DALI group can be used for DALI and non-DALI outputs. When, together with the DALI outputs, other outputs must be switched as well, you just add the Outputs Nr to the eeprom places of the corresponding group.

  • Basic action 73 and 74 can be used to switch ON and OFF the DALI groups