Multi Bus System Projects
Houses with more than 64 DALI addresses can be complicated
We are forced to have bus transactions that are forwarded from one bus to another..
there are 2 ways to do this
a) Macros in the hub software. This is easy to program, and test, and refine. The downside, is that the hub needs to be online for this to work
b) forward rules in the DALI hardware interface. The embedded CPU in the HAT on the Raspberry Pi, can be programmed to forward packets without the hub software - just in case.
Macros
Macros in the hub. This is easy to program, and test, and refine. The downside, is that the hub needs to be online for this to work. Because you will need a number of virtual short addresses to make this work, don't populate the bus with all 64 addresses, please leave 5 or more ready for their assignment as forwarding placeholders. Note that a Macro can have advanced rules:
- Timer delayed actions
- vacation mode detection
- action if already on / off
Macro sources are:
AL-WS-8B with 1 to 8 buttons
AL-WS-M connected to a AL-WS-DR2, with the DR2 in N-Way Split mode
AL-WS-DALI in controlled, or fixed address mode
AL-WS-DR2 at any bus address.
ML-SML-M2D matter interface
Sources can be Single addresses, Groups, Scenes, Triggers or Toggles.
Examples:
A level change in a light on bus 1, can be forwarded to multiple light or group on bus 2, by creating a macro
A level change in a group on bus 1, can be forwarded to multiple light or group on bus 2, by creating a macro
A Scene Recall on bus 1, can be forwarded to multiple light or group or Scene on bus 2, by creating a macro
A trigger on Bus 1 can be processed by the macro, to generate a level sent to a destination on Bus 2
A toggle on Bus 1 can be processed by the macro, to generate a level sent to a destination on Bus 2
Often - the source on Bus 1 is not an individual switch - it could be a button on an 8B device. Options for this situation
a) set the destination to be the short address of the 8B device itself, use that as the source for the macro forwarding rule
b) create a virtual DALI device from the 3-way page, sent the destination for the button, to be the source for the macro
c) set the destination to be a toggle or trigger
Hardwired forwarding
A python script can be executed, to configure the hardware to forward single addresses and groups from bus x to bus y.
The script is in python2.7, and it can be downloaded from here: https://atxled.com/Pi/HAT_Xlate.py.
it supports unidirectional and bidirectional forwarding between busses, without support from the Pi
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