01C-Bus has controlled a significant portion of the market since its introduction in 1994. Now in 2017, Clipsal has decided it’s time for a makeover. Simeon Barut investigates.

C-Bus has been the home automation industry’s leading lighting control system since its introduction back in 1994. It’s quite well known what C-Bus’ role has been for the past 24 years – the end user is able to operate lights, blinds or even play music from anywhere in the house and have it all wired back to a central point.

C-Bus has been the catalyst for home automation control and while its momentum hasn’t slowed down, Clipsal by Schneider Electric thought it was time for a makeover. But why would a company change a system that’s so engrained into the commercial and residential market?

Well, the goal is to build something that is sustainable as a platform to accommodate for the next five to 10 years – something that is a common language and something that integrators and designers understand and make sense of as a business.

Schneider Electric’s smart space director Ben Green says that the company has gone down the path of reimagining C-Bus and designed a more scalable solution that’s protocol agnostic and can integrate with a range of new and existing connected technologies.

“What we’ve done is we’ve evolved our existing C-Bus controllers to a new web based platform, as well as embedding new gateway technologies that enable integration and advanced connectivity. Ultimately we’ve removed a lot of hardware while still increasing the amount compatible technology C-Bus interacts with.” Ben says.

“Instead of using Pascal programming language, we’ve moved to a LUA web based language which is both open and very common within the web community.”

Two brand new controllers are also being introduced as part of the revamp and because of C-Bus’ heavy involvement in both the commercial and residential market, it’s only fitting that controllers are introduced for both.

For residential, Schneider Electric is launching the ‘Wiser for C-Bus Automation Controller’; a device designed to seamlessly integrate with C-Bus and other technologies within the home. All functionalities within the home are centralised into a dynamic graphic interface, allowing the integrator the flexibility to customise the experience for each home owner making it as intuitive as they want.

Where C-Bus shines in this instance is in lighting control. All electrical devices, fittings and fixtures that are connected within the home can be pulled together into a simple interface on a phone, tablet or touch screen which can then be monitored to give real-time updates and create actionable outcomes.

As for the commercial market, the ‘C-Bus Network Automation Controller’ delivers features beyond the Wiser variant. Most notably, Building Management System (BMS) and Modbus gateways are built into a single controller, combining multiple pieces of hardware into a single unit.

This results in building control solutions that are simpler, a lot more cost-effective and that can now be considered as an option for small and medium sized commercial buildings.

Above all else, Ben says that the main goal of the C-Bus re-launch is to continue growing its offerings to the industry which is progressing at a rapid rate.

“We’re going to continue to develop and release and it’s really important we do this because the industry has a particular demand and appetite to grow and merge with technologies. It’s absolutely essential that we give everyone the tools they can be successful with,” says Ben.

“Watch this space – we’ve got four waves of technology to be released over the next 12 months which will include cloud, touch screens and new residential solutions. The evolution of C-Bus is exciting.”