Emergency lighting monitoring system using LonWorks

As enforced by Fire Services Department in Hong Kong, indoor battery-backup emergency lighting is required to be tested monthly. A new distributive monitoring system is developed using LonWorks technology to cater for this. The system has several distinctive features—higher reliability, cost effectiveness and user friendliness. A low-cost electronic circuit board and a LonWorks control module are integrated with the existing emergency lighting circuit to form an intelligent control node in which the maintenance test is performed automatically. The test results are then sent to a control center via a LonWorks network. Any defective lighting point can be spotted without extensive effort on patrolling. Thus, higher reliability of the lighting system is achieved with significant reduction in maintenance cost.