Control
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The Control panels contains two sections:
Basic
Advanced
Both are different depending on which MClimate device you choose, however there are similarities, especially in the Basic one.
We are going to take a look at each in turn.
The example we will look at is for a Vicki, perhaps the most wide-spread MClimate product, where the parameters are shared by a lot of the MClimate devices.
The following 3 common parameters are:
Target Temperature
Child lock
Keepalive interval (minutes)
Whether you decide to change one or more of the setting, be it the Basic or Advanced ones you need to press on the "Send" button in order for the changes to take effect. Changes are not applied automatically.
This is the desired temperature for the space where the device is operating and/or the space where the device it is controlling is operating (for example a Wireless Thermostat can control the target temperature of Multiple Vickis in multiple rooms).
You can easily adjust the target temperature by hoovering over the box and pressing on the up or down arrows.
This is an on/off functionality that can be adjusted by the toggle. If Child lock is ON, one would not be able to adjust the Target temperature manually from the device (in this example rotating the crown of Vicki will not change the temperature and a Lo symbol will be displayed instead of digits).
The Keepalive interval determines how often the device will send its regular uplink messages, updating the Enterprise platform on its status. Depending on how often you want updates on the status of your devices, you can adjust this down to a minute accuracy.
The Keepalive interval directly impacts battery life and also has an impact on noise and interference in the network. It is not recommended to send more often than 3 minutes. It significantly impacts longevity and can reduce battery life several fold if it is very aggressively lowered.
Refer to the Battery Estimation section for more info on your device or use our Battery Calculator to explore different options:
This section is separated in two sub sections:
Device specific controls - parameters that are individual (might be shared on some level between different devices) for the specific device in question that affect its operation. Changing this will affect its behavior as far as its main functionality goes, for example in the case of Vicki we will be discussing below it will impact how well it maintains the temperature in the room via adjusting the TRV openness.
General control - common settings for all MClimate devices that affect general operation in terms of network and connectivity. While related at some level, these do not impact the main functionality of the devices as far as what its intended use is.
There are way too many settings to talk about into detail in this section, however we will give a brief explanation of the most important ones. Refer to the device specific documentation to learn more about a specific parameter/setting.
We are going to discuss the following here:
Temperature range settings
Operational mode
Valve openness in percentage
Valve openness range in percentage
The rest are a more complex set that is intended to realize additional functionality and is best left for the device specific documentation you can find in the link -> Vicki Device Documentation.
This is an important parameter that limits the heating range of the device. It is especially useful in large buildings where you want to limit how much a tenant can increase/decrease the heating system output when manual control is enabled (Child lock is off).
This is a setting that is specific for this device and you will not see it on another MClimate product, however it is a very important example as it illustrates how one parameter can completely change the way a device works.
You can control the main Operational Mode of Vicki via the drop down menu. It operates in Automatic mode by default however you can choose from 3 options:
Manual - the device is connected to the network; internal temperature control algorithm is disabled. Motor position is determined by the server. Default online mode for f.w. <= 3.4
Disable MCloud algorithm - this disables the control algorithm completely, adjusting the valve openness will entirely depend on sending custom commands to Vicki which would not be done automatically by Enterprise. You would have to do it manually or use a separate platform.
Online MCloud algorithm - utilize the Enterprise online algorithm
Proportional Control MCloud algorithm - a more advanced version of the Enterprise algorithm, using Proportional control that is in its beta stage
Automatic - the device is connected to the network; internal temperature control algorithm is enabled; Target temperature is determined by the server. Default online mode for f.w. >=3.5
Automatic with ext. temp sensor - the device is connected to the network; internal temperature control algorithms are enabled; internal temperature sensor is disabled; Target temperature and sensor reading is determined by the server.
Offline – device is not connected to the network. This means that the device can’t join to the LoRaWAN network or doesn’t receive confirmation on the sent keep-alive commands. In this mode the device uses the internal temperature control algorithm to maintain the target temperature.
This will let you directly set how much you want the valve to be open via entering a value in percentage of it being completely open. For example entering 50 will open/close it half way through.
The percentage range for the previous command. This will determine to what degree you will be allowed to open/close the valve.
For example setting Min % to 20 and Max % to 80 would meant that you can close the valve within 20% to its fully closed state and open it within 20% of its fully open state. Thus it will never be more than 80% open and 80% closed.
A set of parameters that is common for the MClimate LoRaWAN device line. This do not impact the main functionality of the device in a way you will immediately notice (like changing the Target temperature for example), however they are important for the long term operation of the device.
This determines how often the device will try to join a network once it has been powered on. It is a setting we rarely recommend adjusting, however you could benefit from decreasing/increasing the interval in some cases. For example, if you want to make sure the device joins as soon as possible in case of network outage/instability. Keep in mind though that if there is no LoRaWAN coverage and this interval is high, you will incur battery life costs, so do not set this value too low.
This is another settings that has to do with network connectivity which sets 2 separate timers, one for confirmed uplink mode and one for unconfirmed uplink mode. When the timer for the current operational mode expires the device assumes it has been disconnected from the network and start attempting to rejoin (using the previously mentioned parameter to send regular join requests). This is a very important mechanic as it determines how quickly a disconnected device will re-join a network that has been down and has recovered.
Confirmed Uplinks - the number of confirmed keep-alive messages that would have to not receive a response from the LNS for the device to decide it has been disconnected. The device waits an additional 7 minutes and start attempting to reconnect. Example -> For a device with a default keep-alive (10 minutes) and default watch-dog parameter (2), it would take 2x10+7=27 minutes to decide it has been disconnected and start attempting to re-join.
Unconfirmed Uplinks - the number of hours that need to elapse with no response from the LNS for the device to decide it has been disconnected and start re-joining. We do not recommend reducing this value below 12 hours as it might cause unnecessary re-join cycling in unstable networks or limited range ones.
This setting determines whether the device will send confirmed or unconfirmed uplinks (the default is unconfirmed and is also what we recommend unless you have a very specific requirement that enforces otherwise).
This is simply a way of requesting the current Hardware and Firmware version of the device, it is mostly used for troubleshooting purposes and in normal conditions should be up to date as the device obtains these values on every network join. You need to check the box to initiate the update on the next "Send" event.
This is a simplified way to send commands directly do the device via their HEX command codes. You can request one or more parameter updates, and/or change one or more parameters, commands can be queued in this way. You can create any combination of commands you required.
For details on command codes and additional settings please refer to the device documentation in the Device Documentation Center.
