Under the guiding theme of ‘Easy Engineering’, Beckhoff is consistently taking the next steps with TwinCAT Building Automation. In addition to the configuration of the PLC, TwinCAT BA also enables the configuration of hardware modules via the new Box Configurator. The eXtendable Room Box (XRB) forms the hardware basis for flexible building automation. It consists of a freely selectable mounting box, an I/O station with Bus Terminals for all necessary functions, and the optional peripheral components such as the power supply unit, the plug connectors for the smart installation or the standard terminal blocks for the direct connection of the installation cables. A Beckhoff embedded PC or any bus coupler provides the ‘brains’ of the I/O station.
Apart from the I/O configuration, the Box Configurator supplies all necessary documents, such as tendering text, cost calculations, enclosure measurements and a component list. The technical planner can thus use the specifications developed during planning directly and precisely by means of individually generated tendering texts.
The eXtendable Room Box is flexible from the outset and grants the planner every freedom: enclosure, protection class and material are freely selectable, depending on the place of use. In addition, an adjustable space reserve is provided for future extensions. The solution also proves to be ‘smart’ when it comes to installation: whether it is manufactured directly by Beckhoff or by one of Beckhoff’s partner companies, the eXtendable Room Box is delivered fully pre-wired with the installation drawing and circuit diagram as an industrially and individually prefabricated plug-and-play solution, optionally with pluggable or classic wiring. This means no technical personnel are required for the installation.
The ‘TwinCAT Building Automation’ software and the ‘eXtendable Room Box’ together represent an integrated system that reduces engineering time for building automation solutions. TwinCAT Building Automation enables simple configuration of control functions and the automated composition of hardware modules in a single tool. The flexible and extendable eXtendable Room Box from Beckhoff includes the freely selectable mounting box and the necessary bus terminal I/O. The user obtains, virtually by mouse-click, a fully configured box that can be wired in the building via plug-and-play. For technical planners and system integrators, this ensures minimal engineering costs, coupled with the greatest possible freedom in design: maximum customisation of the completely prefabricated boxes is possible down to a quantity of one.
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