What is Dali Lighting Control System?

Blog | July 9th, 2018

Digital Addressable Lighting Interface systems (D.A.L.I.) use the adaptable features of an electronic framework to automate lighting configurations. That’s something of a hard pill to swallow. There’s at least one microprocessor in the mix, plus who knows how many accessory parts. Sensors, automated switches, software and hardware, there’s almost too much to consider. Straight to the matter at hand, we start with a clear system overview.

Breaking Down DALI 

This isn’t the surrealist artist, it’s a sophisticated light automation architecture. Trademarked under the DALI acronym, the network-based control solution adds programmable convenience to formerly complex lighting systems, including the vast strip fluorescents fittings used in shopping centres. Picture the parts of the system as a series of blocks. At the top of that block diagram, there are servers and relay panels. They run the software and direct the digital signals. Further down the line, digital-to-analogue converters and lighting control panels perform as interface management assets. They send the software commands down wires, gradually dim or brighten the fixtures, and carry out numerous other important functions. Finally, at the business end of this scalable system, system-compatible ballast units control the lights. They’re the end-circuit lighting regulators, the dimmable control nodes that add personalised flair to an electrically illuminated environment.

Utilising Addressable Logic 

Back at the server room, the VMWare powered Virtual Central manager is running the entire operation. It listens to touchscreens and to manually entered instructions, but its main purpose is to use standard computer hardware to intelligently interpret the proprietary commands held in the LMS interface, the Lighting Management Software. In short, the synthetic brain can live inside an ordinary computer and run any number of lighting programs. Furthermore, a smart DALI Lighting Control System also uses sensor inputs, historical data, and event journals to really simplify what would otherwise be a wildly complicated task. Designed to bridge the computer-to-lighting interface, the scalable computer brain, hosted on a VMWare platform, can regulate the illumination in any number of rooms, corridors, and hallways.

What’s more, the DALI interface isn’t limited to servers, dimming modules, or to wallstations. On top of these essential kit parts, there’s are options to use computer web browsers or mobile devices. And, should a certain software protocol go unrecognised, there are multi-protocol building automation gateways to translate the data. All in all, DALI Lighting Control systems are obviously advanced, and there’s a large range of modules backing the system, but it’s also represented by a series of proprietary protocols that will seamlessly interface with each other across a VMWare operated platform, such as the ones found on an ordinary desktop computer.

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