Remote monitoring and controlling of VRF/VRV systems via protocol for small and medium buildings
A system having an enabling remote monitoring, control and diagnosis of variable refrigerant flow or volume systems, with other systems of a building/overall BMS with a mobile application (app) so that buildings can have seamless interoperability. In the present disclosure or solution, VRF systems along with mechanical equipment, controllers, sensors, actuators may be offered by OEMs. A mobile app may be used to configure the gateway, Modbus or other protocol devices and all or any IDUs and ODUs of the VRF/VRV systems, to enable extended remote monitoring, control and diagnosis.
1 . A system for remote control of variable refrigerant flow (VRF) systems for small and medium buildings, comprising:
a VRF system having one or more indoor units (IDUs) and one or more outdoor units (ODUs);
a protocol device that exposes control parameters of the IDUs and the ODUs;
a gateway having an Ethernet port connectable to an Internet; and
a mobile app connected to the gateway; and
wherein the gateway has two or more ports, one of which is reserved for the protocol device;
wherein the mobile app has a template corresponding to a model of the protocol device; and
wherein the template enables retrieval of monitor and control parameters as protocol device points in each IDU and ODU of the VRF.
2 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the mobile app is used to configure the gateway, protocol device and any or all IDUs or ODUs of the VRF system to enable remote control.
3 . The system of claim 2 , wherein:
the gateway has a default Wi-Fi access point; and
the mobile app is connectable to the Wi-Fi access point of the gateway.
4 . The system of claim 1 , wherein:
the mobile app provides default properties of the protocol device which is customizable;
the mobile app is connected to an access point of the gateway;
the mobile app gets a serial number from the gateway and associates the serial number with the mobile app; and
a configuration is downloaded from the mobile app to the gateway so that the gateway is aware of the details of the protocol device.
5 . The system of claim 4 , wherein:
the details of the protocol are set in the mobile app; and
the mobile app provides a step-by-step guided work flow to add an IDU and ODU inside each protocol device.
6 . The system of claim 1 , wherein the mobile app automatically calculates an actual address of the points as the mobile app knows the offset for each point through the template.
7 . The system of claim 2 , wherein the mobile app establishes:
an automatic protocol binding/point sharing from each control parameter of each IDU and ODU to the gateway;
a cloud binding for each point so that when a point is commanded/read from cloud/remote, the gateway can identify which protocol parameter to command/read; and
the mobile app provides a way to establish point sharing between systems.
8 . The system of claim 7 , wherein:
the mobile app can synchronize the model data to a cloud against the site; and
the information is fetched by a supervisor application from the cloud to enable remote monitoring and control.
9 . The system of claim 8 , wherein:
the gateway retains polling values from protocol devices and sends the polling values as telemetry data to the cloud;
the supervisor uses the telemetry data and displays VRF monitoring points live values; and
the supervisor provides a way to command a point which in turn goes via the cloud and/or the gateway to the protocol device.
10 . A system for remote monitoring, control and diagnosis of variable refrigerant flow (VRF) and/or variable refrigerant volume (VRV) via a protocol interface using a mobile app, comprising:
a gateway configured to communicate with a protocol device associated with the VRF/VRV system, the protocol device providing the protocol interface; and
wherein upon addition of the protocol device under a selected gateway the mobile app automatically configures a first channel of the gateway as a protocol with default properties and lets a user configure properties of the protocol.
11 . The system of claim 10 , further comprising:
connecting a mobile app to a Wi-Fi access point of the gateway, mapping the gateway and getting a serial number from the gateway and associating the serial number in the mobile app; and
wherein a configuration is downloaded from the mobile app to the gateway so that the gateway is aware of protocol channel details under the gateway.
12 . The system of claim 11 , wherein:
the details incorporate one or more items of a group comprising a device address, name and model that is configured to be set up in the mobile;
the mobile app has a template corresponding to the model using which can retrieve control and monitor parameters as protocol points in each IDU and ODU unit of a VRF;
each template is designed based on a protocol specification; and
the template contains a parameter name, an address offset, and a type of protocol register.
13 . The system of claim 11 , wherein based on a type of protocol device, the mobile app has a template corresponding to a model to retrieve control and monitor parameters as protocol points in each IDU and ODU of a VFR.
14 . The system of claim 11 , wherein:
each template contains a parameter name, address offset, and type of protocol register; and
the mobile app is prompted to enter a base address for each type of protocol point which comprises one of a discrete input, input register, holding register, or a coil for a given IDU or ODU.
15 . The system of claim 14 , wherein the mobile app automatically calculates an actual address of these points as it knows an offset for each point through templates.
16 . A remote control system for a variable refrigerant flow (VRF) system comprising:
a gateway communicatively coupled to a protocol device associated with indoor and outdoor units of the VRF system;
a cloud platform comprising one or more server processors configured to communicate with the gateway over the Internet; and
a mobile app configured to bind with the gateway via the cloud platform, wherein the mobile application, through the cloud platform and the gateway, enables remote monitoring and remote control of control parameters of the indoor and outdoor units of the VRF system;
wherein the mobile app establishes automatic binding/port sharing for each control parameter of each IDU and ODU to the gateway.
17 . The system of claim 16 , wherein:
the mobile app establishes a cloud binding for each point so that when a point is commanded/read from a cloud/remote, the gateway can identify which protocol parameter to command/read; and
the mobile app provides a way to establish point sharing between systems.
18 . The system of claim 17 , wherein if an input point of one system has to be used to control another a second system due to a particular action, a user establishes point sharing between the input point from another controller in the same site to another system enable point from a protocol controller.
19 . The system of claim 18 , wherein:
the mobile app synchronizes the model data to the cloud against the site;
a supervisor application fetches the information from the cloud to enable remote monitoring and control;
the supervisor application is a web application used by building operators on a day-to-day basis;
the gateway keeps polling the values from a protocol device and sends the values as telemetry data to the cloud;
the supervisor application uses the telemetry data and displays VRF monitoring points live values; and
the supervisor application provides a way to command a point which in turn goes via a cloud and gateway to a protocol device.