A smart lighting control system is not just a centralized control system. More importantly, it is a way to replace the traditional form of lighting control with one that is more flexible and capable of doing those things which would be impractical or impossible to do before. Even with all the capabilities of DAE’s lighting control system, it is ultimately designed to make it simple, easy and convenient to use even for the novice. It doesn’t need any complicated software or specialized device to set up. It is also designed to be designed to be simple to install and maintain.

1. Multiple Access

   Similar to the traditional three way switch, which is having one light controlled from two locations. The same effect can be achieved through smart lighting control through its digital bus.

   1. Smart lighting control is not limited to just 2 locations, it can have as many locations as desired controlling the same lighting circuit.
   2. Distance is not a limitation, it doesn’t matter if the switch is on the same floor as the light or on a floor above or below; if control access is not limited to a physical switch, then control can be achieved from outside the building or even be mobile.
   3. Unlike a traditional three-way switch, the switch needs to be located within line-of-sight of the lights or else the user won’t be able to see if the lights have been turned on or not. With a digital switch, the status of the lights is shown on the digital switch itself, this is something that is not possible with a classic mechanical switch. In addition, with the traditional approach, if additional multi-way switches are needed, the wiring becomes even more complicated.
   4. Traditional multi-way switching depends on the power being wired connected to all the switches. Such an approach is not practical as power cabling is expensive, and is not flexible as rewiring requires major renovation and is complicated and disruptive.
2. Group Control

   Group control allows different lighting circuits to turn on or off at the same time as if they were a single lighting circuit.

   For example: All the public hallways on the same floor can have their lights be turned on or off all at the same time. The lighting for each hallway is on a separate circuit, in a traditional lighting control this is not possible. But in a smart lighting control system, the different circuits can all be assigned to the same group number, and thus, a single button can command all the lights in the same group to turn on or off at the same time.

3. Pattern Control

In the same space, one can exhibit the different combination of lighting effects; that is to say that a single button will activate a pattern consisting of a combination of some lights that are on and some lights that are off, for the purpose of creating a desired atmosphere, mood or to match an event. This in effect is biased towards the artistic side of lighting.

4. Sensor based energy saving control

The most commonly seen is the infrared based motion sensor to control the lights. Other less common ones include the daylight sensor, temperature sensor, carbon monoxide sensor and so on.

5. Dimming Control

Dimming is most commonly used with pattern control, and often it is accompanied by some form of fading effect.
But it can also be be combined with some simple rocker switch for control, but with only a slight change in having some gradual fading effect. Other than this, there is still the need for some knob to control the dimming level. Our system can also support a variable resistor based form of dimming adjustment.

6. Scheduled Timer Control

This is often used in conjunction with group or pattern control. This form of control can cover any of the load controller units on the digital bus. There are multiple tracks to the schedule, one for weekdays, and the other for weekends, then there is also the special days (exceptions and holidays). Modifying the schedule is simple enough that it can be done easily by the administrator to make impromptu changes to accommodate unforeseen events such as a special occasion or a typhoon day.

7. Peak and Off-Peak Control

The same lighting can be controlled different for different times of the day. For example, during business hours, the lights would automatically turned on from a schedule, but in the evening when everyone has left, control reverts to the local sensors.

8. Centralized Control

For large buildings often a control center is established to be able to oversee the lighting for the entire building. The host computer would have a layout diagram for each floor showing the public lighting. The building administrator would then be able to monitor and control everything from one central location instead of having to roam the entire building just to manage the lights.