HotSpot AG Alarms Guide
Overview
This document describes the types and applications of alarms available within the Hotspot Ag software. Alarms in a general sense can do one to three things independently or simultaneously. They can notify a user of a particular condition by sending an email or SMS message, can be used to trigger a control action, and/or be used to record data. This document is separated into three sections,
Section 1: Destination and Destination Lists (3 minute video shown in Figure 1) – who should be notified or what group should be notified
Section 2: User Defined Alarms – either notify destinations lists of field/equipment conditions, trigger control action, or record data
Figure 1 – Destination and Destination List.
Section 3: Standard Alarms – notifications specific to common Hotspot Ag installations
User Defined Alarms can be created with any of the data that is collected by the Hotspot Ag controller.
Alarm Difficulty Description and Time to Configure
- Basic (5.5 min video shown in Figure 2) – Single datapoint is monitored.
- Moderate – Multiple formulas are used within alarm settings (5 to 20 minutes)
- Difficult – Data is pulled from other controllers to control action on alarmed controller (20 min to 1 hour)
Figure 2 – Basic Alarm Management
- Send a message to field foreman if rain starts at Ranch XYZ
- Remind field managers to train on heat stress training if temperature exceeds 100 degrees Fahrenheit
- Send message to irrigation staff when temperature is lower than 32 degrees fahrenheit during bloom periods
- If a reservoir reaches its minimum or maximum level
- Send message to irrigation staff if booster pump is running dry
- Send safety manager message if farm equipment is driving too quickly in certain areas
- Log data if utility voltage reaches 504 volts
- Automatically turn booster pump on for normal irrigation operations
- Automatically prevent pumps from running during TOU periods
- Reservoir lift pump to stop pumping when reservoir level low
- Automatically triggering Wind Machine to turn on during frost events
- Triggering irrigation sets to run during frost events
- Automatic Reservoir Fill with TOU and reservoir level constraints
- Configure a VFD to adjust in-field valve pressure for irrigation sets at different elevations.
Section 1: Destination and Destination Lists
Destinations are the endpoints for messages sent via “Alarm Actions”. These endpoints are typically various methods of connecting with human recipients, but API calls to other software programs is also an option. The “Destination” tab for each “Group” is like an address book, but since each destination is a single endpoint an individual human recipient may have multiple entries to list; email, cell phone, and text.
Figure 3 – Example of Destination List
Destination Lists
It is typical for alarm messages to be sent to multiple destinations. Destinations Lists allow you to create groups like “Field Techs”, “2nd Shift”, or “Office staff”. These groups are then selected from the drop-down-menu of the Alarm and/or Restore Actions. A Destination can be assigned to multiple lists.
Creating Destination Lists
Add List – The + Add List button at the top of the left-hand panel, under the Destination List tab, is where you create and name a new list. You may also choose to activate the list now.
Add List Step – The + Add List Step button at the top of the right-hand panel allows you to add Destinations to a list (new or old). The only requirements to adding a List Step are, select the Destination from the drop-down-menu and click Save changes. Optionally you may want to customize the Message Template. For more information see Message Templates and Message Template Tags.
Managing Destination Lists
When an employee is added, promoted or leaves the company, this requires changes to potentially hundreds of alarms. Destination Lists allow you to make that change in one place. Add or remove a Destination from the List Step, save the changes and the change will be reflected on all the alarms using that Destination List.
Editing Destination Lists – The pencil and trash can icons under the Destination Lists’ Edit column allow users, with adequate privileges, to change the name, active/inactive status or delete a Destination list.
Editing List Steps – The pencil and trash can icons under the List Steps’ Edit column allow users, with adequate privileges, to swap Destinations, edit Message Templates, or delete the List Steps.
Message Templates
The Message Template allows a user with adequate privileges, to customize the message assigned to each List Step (Destination) using plain text and Message Template tags. The Default message templates are tailored to the Destination Type, making the default SMS messages shorter than email. You can also choose to give more or different information to some Destinations (recipients). Message Template Tags allow the message to contain current field values, device status, system info, meta data, even a Google maps link with the units location.
Figure 4 – Default SMS Message Template
Figure 5 – Default Email Message Template
Customizing the subject
Customize an email Message Template by adding your own Subject text or tags followed by the special character “|”. Text and tags before the “|” will be formatted as the subject line, everything after the “|” will be formatted as the body of the email.
Example: [SOURCENAME] [GROUPNAME] | [ACTIONMESSAGE] [USTIME] [GPSLINK]
Section 2: User Defined Alarms
Alarm Definition – Alarms are user configured event triggers (Each ezeio is limited to 200 alarms). An alarm is triggered by an “Alarm condition” and stays in alarm until the “Restore condition” is true (or until it is forced off). On their own alarms do not do anything, other than switch on or off like a digital flag. “Alarm actions” and “Restore actions” such as “Send a message” or “Set a Field Value” can be configured by the user to add the desired functionality. Each alarm can have up to 4 “Alarm actions” and 4 “Restore actions”. Alarms can be added or deleted using the buttons at the bottom of the page.
Alarm Table – The left panel of the Alarm page is a table listing all of the alarms, alarm / restore conditions and their current status. The table can be sorted by column.
Alarm Status – Several icons are used to indicate the status of an alarm. The table below lists the status icons in the progression of a typical alarm cycle.
Figure 6 – Alarm Page
ALARM SETTINGS
Name – Appears on the alarm table. By default (if no subject has been formatted by a user) the alarm name is transmitted in “Send message” actions
Alarm condition settings – This is where the user describes the conditions that will trigger an alarm, using eze Systems’ Expressions and Tags. This can be a single temperature threshold, the result of an equation or multiple conditions, such as the examples below.
Alarm Holdoff Time – The “Alarm condition” must persist for the amount of time specified in the “Alarm Holdoff”. If the alarm condition fluctuates between true and false, the Holdoff time will reset. The user can enter any time from 0.1 to 10,0000 seconds (1/10th of a second to 27.8 hours). During the hold off time, the status of the alarm will display a gray arrow pushing toward the alarm icon.
Alarm Action – As mentioned above, up to four Alarm Actions can be configured to perform a variety of tasks. Click on an Alarm Action’s banner to expand and view its settings.
Active / Inactive – A checkbox is provided to allow a user to suspend an Alarm Action. This is very helpful when setting up and testing alarms or, for example when equipment is taken offline for service. By default a new Alarm action will be inactive.
Action Name – Use this to apply a unique name to the action. By default this name will be sent as part of the subject of a message when using the Send Message action, preceded by “ALARM” (or RESTORE in the case of Restore Actions).
Action Type – Several action types are available, Send Message being the most common. Others can be used to create automation. The list below will describe each Action Type and how to use it.
Condition Expression – Each Alarm Action and Restore Action has an optional Condition Expression that can be used as additional logic to control actions. This is normally left blank, triggering actions when the associated alarm becomes active. A common use of this option is to differentiate between two actions on the same alarm. For example; a door switch alarm could trigger a bell to ring during business hours and send a text message when outside of business hours.
RESTORE SETTINGS
Restore settings offer the same options as the Alarms setting including Restore Condition, Restore Holdoff time, and Restore Actions. The Restore Condition is required to return the alarm to a ready state where it can be triggered again. Without a “Restore Condition” a Force Restore action will be required to return the alarm to a ready state.
RETRIGGER ALARM SETTING
By default, an alarm will not retrigger until it has restored. This feature allows an alarm to retrigger the configured Alarm Actions a specified number of times at a regular interval, during the period of time the alarm remains active. Enter the “Count” (number of retriggers) and Delay (interval between re-triggers). Count can be from 1-100. To disable retriggering enter a 0 as the Count. Delay range is 0.1 to 10,0000 seconds (1/10th of a second to 27.8 hours).
User Defined Alarm Configuration Guides
Section 3: HotSpot AG Standard Alarms
Hotspot Station Alarms – as each has an independent cellular connection to the cloud, the system can generate:
- Controller Offline/Online
- Controller Offline for 1 Hr
- Controller Offline for 24 Hrs
- Overvoltage Alarms – 504 Volts
- Undervoltage Alarms – 456 Volts
- Voltage Imbalance – when the min and max voltage per leg varies by 2.5%
- Current Imbalance – when the min and max amperage per leg varies by 2.5%
- VFD Alarms – triggers when faults occur
- Deadhead – when pump is on with no flow
- Overpressure – when downstream pressure exceeds 55 psi
- PSI Sensor Fail – when pressure is above 100 psi (typically during a freeze event). This is to indicate that a pressure sensor is damaged. It will also trigger if the pressure reads a negative value
- Failed Open:
- A valve does not close when turned off in HotSpot, or
- Pressure is above 8 psi when the valve is OFF within HotSpot
- When turned on manually in field
- Failed Closed:
- a valve does not open when turned on in HotSpot, or
- when the valve is OPEN in HotSpot and the pressure drops on the downstream pressure sensor
- Low Supply Voltage – solar battery below 11.8V. Solar charger will disconnect at ~11.5V. When disconnected, the station will drop.
- No Mainline Pressure – Mainline Pressure is measuring below 10PSI. Pump will shut off.
- No Flow Measured – Chemical flowmeter is not measuring flow. Will hold off the length of time provided in the configuration of the Dosing Pump Driver in the “Ramp time (s)” entry field. Note: Hold off time resets if the flow setpoint is changed.
- High Flow Measured – Flow measured by the chemical flowmeter exceeds the design flowrate by 10% or more. Will alarm when:
- Exceeds 10%, 30 seconds after initially entering “High Flow Measured”
- Exceeds 15%, 15 seconds after initially entering “High Flow Measured”
- Exceeds 20%, 10 seconds after initially entering “High Flow Measured”
Device Errors
- Voltage or mA abnormalities – commonly, an alarm will trigger when the mA or V values exceed/drop below the threshold mA or V values. When these trigger, it is indicative of a failed sensor, meaning that it needs to be investigated.
In this example shown in Figure 9, the Carbon Monoxide Sensor mA value fell below the threshold of 4 mA.
Figure 9
This sensor was working properly, and needed an adjustment of the scaled values. The low scaled value was dropped from 0 to -10 and high scaling from 200 to 250.
Figure 10
- Communication errors – common VFDs and Softstarters have internal computers. Hotspot is able to communicate with those computers to give users information on the health and status of the drives. A communication error means that the connection is either physically or virtually disconnected from the Hotspot Controller.
Configuring User to Receive Alarms
- Go to group settings on highest desirable folder within Hotspot Ag software
- Select Manage Users
- Select dropdown for Receive Communication Alerts
- Select Desired option
Figure 11 – Manage HotSpot AG User Communication
