Adding RS232 to a New Emergency Lighting Product

[alil]

My company manufacturers an innovative emergency light that is recessed into the wall and only emerges upon a power failure.

A school district is specifying us into their renovations, and they use an inverter, a battery back up system, that utilizes RS232 to test the emergency lights monthly.

Our lights have a circuit board, and I know we have to modify the units to "talk" to the central battery back up unit.

Our lighting designer has left the country, and can't be reached. I'm electrically challenged, and don't know what I don't know.

How do I go about adding this functionality to our design?

Alil

[rjohnson]

hire a consulting engineer before you shoot yourself in the foot.

[Nick_D]

Hey Alil,

RS232 is a universal serial protocal, and labVIEW can communicate with this protocol from the PC. Unfortunately, it seems like you're trying to do it without the PC, and create an instrument. (Usually, the PC communcates with the instrument). If you would like, the best thing to do would be search the web some more for basics of RS232 communication, and like rjohnson mentioned, may hire a professional to consult your build.

IF you're interested in using labVIEW or any programming environment to be used in the process, feel free to post in our discussion forums, and we'll be happy to help.

Good luck!

Regards,

Nick D.

[rjohnson]

sorry, Alil, my reply was unnecessarily curt.

your task is not trivial.   you want to add "smart" capability to a "dumb" light fixture.   this means, at the least, you are going to have to interface a microprocessor and associated sensors into your fixture, and implement a transceiver such as an external UART if the uP doesnt have one on board.

if you are as you say, "electrically challenged," this is not the kind of project you want to try and hack through on your own.   I've seen firsthand how this approach will wind up costing you far more in the long run to resolve.

your best bet is to hire a consulting engineer who has specific design experience with embedded systems.   lighting system design experience is not especially necessary, as the project in and of itself is just a generic embedded design.

good luck.

-rj


EDIT:  a quick search turned up the following tidbit, a patent for a emergency lighting ballast that utilizes RS-232 as part of its testing and reporting.   check out section [0041] of the Description Summary.   this might help give you an idea of the direction you need to head.

http://www.freepatentsonline.com/20050093457.html

Message Edited by rjohnson on 06-20-2007 05:18 PM