North Building Technologies

Commander is the smallest of the North family of building controllers, which also includes Integrator and Observer. All the controllers contain North’s interface technology, block-based programming language, and easy-to-use web services. Commander is powerful enough to be used alone, or can also work alongside other North controllers and display systems, and become part of a larger control or monitoring solution.

Commander has an Ethernet port and two serial ports. Each port (including the Ethernet Port) can be configured to run different protocols. This allows Commander to access values from 3rd party systems connected via Ethernet networks or via serial connections.

3rd party systems can also access values within Commander using a wide range of communication protocols including BACnet/IP and Modbus/IP.

Commander's serial ports can also be configured to run 2 Zip I/O networks (around 320 physical IO points in total). It is possible to have different protocols on each port; port 1 could be running Zip while port 2 is talking M-Bus and the Ethernet port could be sharing values via BACnet/IP or Modbus/IP.

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Powered by ObServer

North’s ObServer software is at the heart of Commander. ObServer 2.0 is a powerful integration and control platform that has the following features:

Web Server

Commander has an HTML server that can serve user interface pages from multiple devices. Values from disparate systems are presented on single or separate pages; in a common format. Engineering of these pages is simply a matter of selecting which points you wish to display and on what page. The text based web pages are compatible with almost any Web Browser, including mobile devices such as iPhones, iPads and Android handsets. Sample pages are shown below.

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System Interfaces

Commander has two RS232 interface ports for connecting to third party devices and North’s ZIP range of IO modules. Commander v2.0 uses standard ObSys OSM modules to communicate and is therefore compatible with over 280 different protocols covering thousands of products, including HVAC controllers such as Fan Coil units, VRF systems and even 3rd party BMS controllers. Fire, Security, energy meters and lighting systems are also supported, along with Variable speed drives, and open standards such as Modbus, BACnet, LonMark and M-Bus.

IP Networking

Commander contains several modules that provide network services:

• IPBus Interface – allows Commander to access data from other North products connected via ethernet.
• User Database – collects values from the attached systems. It acts as a database of information aimed at users. Users can view and set the information in the database in several ways: Via Web Browser, from a BACnet/IP master or from a MODBUS/IP master; and from attached compatible devices including North's Zip Display modules.
• BACnet Application Specific Controller – supports the ASHRAE BACnet (Building Automation and Control Networks) standard. Information from the user database is automatically presented as BACnet objects.
• Authentication Server – Password database which identifies tokens and access levels for 2000 users. Provides authentication for users accessing Web pages, attached devices, and other devices on the IP network

Other IP based protocols are available such as Modbus and proprietary protocols such as Philips lighting.

Data Transfers

Commander comes with a module that allows 500 data points to be automatically passed from one system to another. The rate at which a value is sampled and written can be congfigured to ensure critical values are given a priority (click image to enlarge).

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Alarm Handling

Commander contains several intelligent alarm handling modules, including:

• Alarm event distribution and routing – routes alarm events to destinations within Commander, the attached system, and Ethernet network depending on configurable criteria
• Alarm history – stores the last 100 alarm events. Stored on a first in first out basis.
• Monitoring of values and alarm event generation – the user database monitors the values collected and generates alarm events if required.
• Modules within Commander, third party systems and devices on the Ethernet network can send alarms to the Alarm Router for distribution.

Alarm Visibility

Commander 2's in built web server will display a list of the last 100 Alarms on a first in first out basis. For more advanced alarm viewing and sorting options you can use Alarm Manager which is part of the ObSys suite of software.

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Daylight Saving

Daylight saving is now taken care of far more efficiently than in Commander v1.0. Commander v2.0 has a list of the next 10 year’s daylight savings, pre-programmed for the UK, but adjustable for any country. Commander can get UTC (Co-ordinated Universal Time) from a time server automatically, so that you are never reporting alarms or controlling timers with the wrong time.

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Calendars and Timers

Calendars and Timers provide timed on-off control to other devices via the built in Real Time Clock. The Calendar is used to specify day-types for the following year, and each of the timers then has a set of profiles for each day-type.

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Create Timers for each area of control, 20 timers are included; each timer has up to 5 on off periods each. All are configurable from the web page (editing timers and calendars can be password protected).

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Programmable Control

OBVEngine allows engineers to create cause and effect strategy which can control any connected device.

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Standard modules include PID, Boolean Mathematics functions and the ability to read and write values from 3rd party systems anywhere on the North integration networks. Commander v2.0 can run many thousands of process modules if needed and provides incredibly fast idle rates on control strategies. The editor has a monitor function that allows engineers to force through dummy values and see each module in action in a real time debug mode.

Passwords and security

It is possible to password protect the web pages for commander and also to use Commander as a password server for a broader application (such as door access). Commander can store up to 400 users, which can in turn be assigned to one of the 20 user groups. Each user (or group of users) can then be given privileges to be used to access different parts of the North system, or to give access to certain doors when using North’s door access controller.

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