July 2024 Newsletter: Lutron Case Study, AI in Integration Jobs, Cybersecurity

Case Study - Lutron to BACnet IP Protocol Integration for Lighting Control Systems

This case study involves a client who was looking for a solution on how to integrate their lighting control system with their Building Management System (BMS).

Chipkin provides advanced solutions for Systems Integrations. The successful integration between the Building Management System (BMS) and the Grafik 7000 lighting system demonstrates the power of innovative solutions and collaboration. Despite facing numerous challenges, Chipkin provided tailored solutions to ensure seamless communication and data integrity. By overcoming these obstacles, the client achieved their goal of centralizing control and automation of lighting, leading to significant energy savings and enhancing overall building efficiency. This case study underscores the importance of adaptability, problem-solving skills, and effective communication in delivering successful integration projects.

Phew! Our professions are AI safe.

If you work as an engineer or technician in HVAC, Automation, Electrical, Fire Systems… you get the drift, then your profession is safe from AI. Why? Consider these examples.

Emergencies

When a hotel HVAC system goes down and the guests are complaining like crazy. Who you going to call. An AI – I think not.
Ditto for factories, mines, buildings.
When a pipe bursted in my home I asked ChatGPT to fix it but just threw me some vague generalizations about how to go about it like suggesting I contact a plumber.

No data

AI's have no data and never will when it comes to wired systems.
We have to deal with a lot of undocumented and/or legacy equipment.

Safety

Can you see an Ai locking out an electrical system?
Safety systems are often implemented with hard wiring.
Good luck to an Ai tracing the wiring in a building.

Code Compliance

AI's will never solve ambiguous, contradictory, and constantly changing jurisdictional specific codes.

Experience

A lot of what we know is based on practical experience.

Cross-disciplinary

To be a good BMS engineer you need to know air flow systems, electrical, plumbing, controllers…etc. Its like factorials.

Site Specific

How will an AI deal with jumpered terminals?
There was a problem installing the system so there is a work around.
etc.

Firewalled systems

AI's can't see beyond firewalls. Std practice is to firewall the control systems we work on.

Cybersecurity: We need to do a better job!

Old unpatched devices and firewalls, systems with out of date encryption, Old systems that only allow a max of 10 chars in the password, back doors, dial up connections…

The IT departments think the simple 'ringed' model is the solution. IT systems are hacked all the time. Security should come first. Most of us are not security practitioners so we need to bring in the right people.