30 May 2016

Modbus + iRidium – Project Upgrade from Modest Mini-car to BMW X6!

The Luxury systems company headed by Dmitry Korolev has been iRidium partner for many years. Our cooperation fruitfully expands in different directions. We had joint webinars where we trained all who wanted to work with the iRidium driver for Modbus and CoDeSys programming. Dmitry Korolev also held offline trainings. The show room of the Luxury systems company took part in iRidium Awards 2014. One of the company projects is published on the iRidium mobile web site. And much more…

So, we decided to have a heart to heart talk with Dmitry Korolev to learn how he came to work in automation and got acquainted with iRidium.

Dmitry, how long have you been working in the automation field? What initially attracted you to this field?

I started to work in the field of ACS development and integration in 2010. Until then I had a company engaged in building and maintenance of IT infrastructures for small and medium-size business. The turning point was participation in the regular CIO summit where I perfectly understood the prospective of the IT sphere and the trend of moving towards «Cloud systems». As a matter of fact, at that time I got interested in «Smart Home» Automated Control Systems as in the most promising direction where I could still carve out a niche.

You make your projects on the basis of Modbus protocol. What is your choice conditioned upon: some specific characteristics of Modbus protocol or your personal preferences?

Well, it has to do with the business niches in the ASC field. In 2010, in my opinion, there was the following situation – the Luxury level was taken by the well-known Crestron, AMX, KNX and others; the Minimum level was presented by Z-Wave, Insyte, etc. So I had an idea of creating some Medium level. As I visioned it, it was quality close to Luxury with the price closer to Minimum. The most appropriate equipment to match criteria worked with the Modbus protocol (it was industrial PLC in absolutely different capacity as requirements in industrial automation are higher). One more important fact is openness of the protocol as it is the most open and popular industrial protocol: in one way or another industrial and semi-industrial equipment works with it (for example, ventilation/conditioning systems, etc.) As a result, all major manufacturers of «Smart Home» equipment, including the Luxury segment, had to support it. It confirmed our choice of the direction and we started to manufacture equipment for home systems (for example, Multiroom) with support of the Modbus protocol to expand functions of industrial PLC.

When and how did you get acquainted with iRidium? How have your projects changed from that moment?

The first encounter with iRidium was only a couple of months after I started to work with automation systems. At that time iRidium was (as it is now) the most convenient and universal visualization tool for control system. It helped to “befriend” different systems with different protocols just with one mouse click. How have our projects changed? Well, I guess the same way the modest mini-car is different from BMW X6 – they became more complex and professional.

What tasks of your customers does iRidium help you with?

The main thing, as it always is – to start. Then, based on experience you can do it with your eyes closed - iRidium has a very simple and convenient interface and the team cares about us (the installers) and always works on all smallest details and nuances. I would say they are among those few who can hear their clients (us).

In your projects you often integrate Modbus with AV equipment of different manufacturers. What is the reason for that? What difficulties do you face when integrating a big number of different equipment? What can you recommend to those who also want to integrate Modbus and AV equipment on the basis of your experience?

Integration of Modbus and AV equipment is usually conditioned by the architecture of the automation system. Sometimes we use multiprotocol systems – for example, Beckhoff. Sometimes controllers (for example, ОВЕН) have only Modbus on board. But there is always a way to find an optimal solution for a particular problem. iRidium helps to solve these problems without much effort. In the first place, I would wish integrators to be more professional and sensible. Unfortunately, I often see that integrators offer not very professional solutions. For example, when you install a projector for 3 million rubles and control it via IR. In this case I advise to check the projector slots. I’m sure you will find a bidirectional port for control via RS232 or/and TCP. I understand that for some integrators the most important part is to work with a 3-million projector. But, please, let’s be professional...

Judging by your solid experience in installations, what control panels are mostly used by customers? What panels are used more often: smart phones and tablets? And what operating system is preferred? What is the optimal choice in your opinion?

There is no general opinion here – some prefer Apple, some - Android. Usually customers want to control from phones, tablets and built-in control panels.

What would you recommend to those who have just started to work with iRidium?

As in any beginning – read the instructions first, then turn the thing on, then actually read the instructions to the end. But for real, iRidium has so many videos and instructions for beginners to start without much effort that the first recommendation is the best although it sounds ironically. Be more attentive and accurate both in graphic and program style.

Do you have any wishes to the iRidium mobile team on further work?

Continue your work with the same confidence and don’t get sick with «the big companies disease». You guys are great! – you see, hear and do – keep up good work!

iRidium mobile Team