Lighting Intensity Adjustment in Home Automation Systems

Brightness Regulation

The brightness control is one of the most sought comfort functions for users of home automation, allowing you to play with the amount of light emitted by one or more lamps in a room, creating light environments manually or automatically.

The Dimmer

A dimmer is an electronic actuator that regulates the supply voltage to a lamp to achieve different light levels. In the market, models are available for universal box assembly, in manholes, in false ceilings, and modules for DIN rail. Regulators can be used with incandescent lamps, LED, and halogen lamps. They are not effective with energy-saving lamps and fluorescent lamps. Depending on how regulators apply the signal, they can be:

• In direct connection to the receiver: The controller is connected in series with the lamp and installs directly into any Redbox mechanism.
• From digital control pushbuttons: The regulation is made using a digital signal via one or more buttons to the device controller.
• From analog control: The controller has an analog input and, depending on the signal applied, changes the voltage at the lamp terminals.

Brightness Control of Energy-Saving and Fluorescent Lamps

For low-consumption lamps and fluorescent lamps, miniature dimmers cannot regulate their luminosity by simply reducing the voltage. It is necessary to meet two requirements:

1. The lamp must be dimmable.
2. The actuator controller must be specific to this type of lamp.

Brightness Control of Fluorescent Lamps

Controlling the brightness of fluorescent lamps requires the use of ballasts or electronic ballasts designed for this purpose. Some techniques to adjust the brightness in fluorescent lamps include:

Analog Regulation

A system based on an analog signal from 1 to 10V. The ballast must have an analog input (1 to 10V) that can be controlled. It may be possible to control multiple ballasts by connecting them to the analog bus. The number of controllable ballasts depends on the analog output capacity, and the voltage drop in the cable must also be considered.

Control by Digital Input Ballasts

The ballasts have a digital input that receives signals from conventional buttons. As many buttons as desired can be connected in parallel to this input.

DSI (Digital System Interface) Regulation

This is a digital system to control lights by groups. A main controller unit is required to generate the digital communication bus for each group of lamps. The bus only needs two wires of 1.5 mm² and has no polarity.

DALI (Digital Addressable Lighting Interface) Regulation

This technology is oriented toward lighting. The system supports 64 devices. The bus consists of two wires without polarity. Programming software and system configuration are required for setup.