Fulham Co., Inc., a supplier of lighting components and electronics for commercial and specialty applications, has released a new LabKit to make it easy for OEMs to quickly test and evaluate wireless LED controllers for commercial lighting systems. The LabKit comes ready to use, complete with Fulham’s Bluetooth mesh mobile commissioning application.
The EliteControl Bluetooth Mesh LabKit is a self-contained, 120V unit. It includes a Fulham LED light engine, a Fulham SmartBridge Bluetooth controller, an EnOcean wireless Bluetooth switch, and an Apple iPad loaded with Fulham’s controller software. Using the LabKit, the user will have a fully operational Bluetooth mesh LED control system in minutes.
With the EliteControl LabKit users can configure and manage wireless control zones. The Fulham controller app allows users to set up a new lighting project that can encompass one or more floors of a building. Zones made up of a group of Bluetooth mesh devices, such as fixtures, sensors, or switches are used to define controlled spaces on a specific floor or even within rooms. Custom configuration scenarios can be created using the Fulham app and stored for office spaces, restrooms, etc., to simplify controller commissioning.
Once the zones are configured, the LabKit can be used to connect and control the lighting system. Luminaires can be added to each zone as needed and the LED engine will flash to show connectivity has been established. Once connected, the dimmer switch included in the LabKit can be used to test and control the zone lighting infrastructure.
“We wanted to offer a simple Bluetooth commissioning and evaluation kit to show customers how easy it is to set up a Bluetooth mesh control network,” said Alvaro Garcia, Senior Director, Product Management, for Fulham. “The EliteControl LabKit is ideal for understanding Bluetooth mesh for smaller projects, as well as for demonstrating and testing other Bluetooth mesh wireless LED devices.”
SIG qualified Bluetooth mesh is gaining momentum as an approach for wireless LED lighting control. Bluetooth is an open standard so any qualified device will be interoperable. The mesh architecture is highly reliable with built-in failover and Bluetooth-enabled luminaires can be added or removed without disruption. Bluetooth mesh is also secure and highly scalable so it can connect thousands of nodes, and it provides a full stack communications platform so it can become the infrastructure for the Internet of Things (IoT).
