Traffic Logix SafePace Beacon Control Software User Manual

Transcription

1 Traffic Logix SafePace Beacon Control Software User Manual Traffic Logix I 3 Harriet Lane I Spring Valley, New York T (866) F (866) I info@trafficlogix.com 2011 Traffic Logix Corporation

2 Table of Contents Overview... 3 System Requirements... 3 Installation... 3 Connecting Your Computer to the SafePace Beacon System using Bluetooth adapter... 6 Starting the Software... 7 Opening and Closing a Connection to the System... 8 Schedules... 9 Holidays & Exceptions Manage Beacons Manage Beacons: Schedules Manage Beacons: Holidays & Exceptions Manage Beacons: Advanced Settings Manual Override Real-Time Diagnostics Uploading and Downloading configuration to/from Beacons Save and Load Settings to/from File Print Configuration Software Settings Database File Manual Settings via On-Board Control Manual Switch Technical Support Copyright Traffic Logix Corp. SafePace Beacon Control Software: User Manual V 1.0

3 Overview The SafePace Beacon Control Software is a computer software utility that manages various parameters, such as flashing patterns, brightness settings, schedules and calendars of the SafePace Beacon System. The software utilizes a wireless Bluetooth link (via a virtual serial port) to talk to the beacon system. It is, therefore, necessary that the computer used to program the beacon system has a Bluetooth Class 1 adapter and appropriate drivers installed. System Requirements Operating System: Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7 Screen Resolution: 800 x 600 pixels or higher Communication Interface: Bluetooth Class 1 adapter Disk Space: at least 10 megabytes of free disk space Installation The SafePace Beacon Control Software is distributed as a single executable installation file named Setup-SafePaceBCS.exe. When updating the software with a newer version, please close all previous versions before proceeding with the installation process. To begin the installation, please click on the SafePace Beacon Control Software Setup Wizard icon in Windows Explorer (Figure 1: SafePace Beacon Control Software Setup Wizard). An easy-to-use Installation wizard will guide you through the installation process. Figure 1: SafePace Beacon Control Software Setup Wizard Copyright Traffic Logix Corp. SafePace Beacon Control Software: User Manual V 1.0

4 The SafePace Beacon Control Software Setup Wizard provides step-by-step instructions, which begin with a Welcome Page (Figure 2: SafePace Beacon Control Software Setup Wizard Welcome Page ). The Welcome Page appears on the screen if the installation is performed on a compatible Operating System and if the user has adequate rights to install new software on the computer. Click the Next button to continue. Figure 2: SafePace Beacon Control Software Setup Wizard Welcome Page By default, the SafePace Beacon Control Software is installed in the Program Files\SafePaceBCS folder or Program Files (x86)\safepacebcs on 64-bit OS (Figure 3: SafePace Beacon Control Software Setup Wizard: Destination Location selection). If another file destination is desired, click the Browse... button and select a new path in Folder Browser. The Setup program will automatically create a new folder if one does not already exist. When the desired destination folder is selected, click the Next button to proceed to the Start Menu folder selection page. The Start Menu folder selection interface is similar to the Destination Location page (Figure 3: SafePace Beacon Control Software Setup Wizard: Destination Location selection). By default, shortcuts to the management software will be created in the SafePace Beacon Control Software Start Menu folder. The user can enter another folder name or select the folder by clicking the Browse... button. To proceed to the next step, click the Next button Copyright Traffic Logix Corp. SafePace Beacon Control Software: User Manual V 1.0

5 Figure 3: SafePace Beacon Control Software Setup Wizard: Destination Location selection The Installation Wizard will display the Summary of the selected setup options before proceeding to the Select Additional Tasks page. You can review your parameter selections and modify them if necessary. Use the Back button to roll back the pages to the parameter you want to modify. Click the Install button when you are ready to install the SafePace Beacon Control Software. In the next step, the user can create a desktop icon shortcut for the SafePace Beacon Control Software (Figure 4: SafePace Beacon Control Software Setup Wizard: Additional Icons). By default, this option is checked. Click Next to proceed to the summary page. Figure 4: SafePace Beacon Control Software Setup Wizard: Additional Icons Copyright Traffic Logix Corp. SafePace Beacon Control Software: User Manual V 1.0

6 Upon completion of this short setup process, the Installation Wizard will propose to start the SafePace Beacon Control Software application. Connecting Your Computer to the SafePace Beacon System using Bluetooth adapter You should pair your computer to your SafePace Beacon System prior to starting SafePace Beacon Control Software. The pairing process varies and depends on your computer s Operating System (it is slightly different for Windows XP and Windows Vista / Windows 7) and the Bluetooth adapter used. Please refer to the appropriate documentation for step-by-step instructions on how to install drivers for your Bluetooth adapter and instructions on how to use the Bluetooth Management Wizard. Supplied with all SafePace Beacon System is a USB Class 1 Bluetooth module. It is highly recommended that you use the supplied Bluetooth module rather than any integrated module that may have been installed on your computer or laptop (these models are typically Class 2 and have far less range than Class 1 models). Figure 5: USB Bluetooth Class 1 adapter The SafePace Beacon System will be discovered by your computer s Bluetooth management application. When paired as a Serial Port Profile (SPP) device, the SafePace Beacon System will appear in your system as a Serial Port (COM port). You must specify the COM port which the SafePace Beacon Control Software will use to communicate with your beacon system. This can be done at any time using the Port combo-box located in the top-left corner of the main window (Figure 6: SafePace Beacon Control Software: main window). For security purposes, the beacon system communicates with the SafePace Beacon Control Software using a proprietary communication protocol and therefore cannot be accessed using software other than SafePace Beacon Control Software. As a consequence, the pairing with the beacon system will not compromise its security and will not give access to the configuration parameters Copyright Traffic Logix Corp. SafePace Beacon Control Software: User Manual V 1.0

7 Starting the Software SafePace Beacon Control Software can be started through the Windows Start (Programs SafePace Beacon Control Software SafePace Beacon Control Software by default) or by clicking the SafePace Beacon Control Software shortcut icon on the Desktop (if one was created during the installation process). The application should start immediately and the main window will appear on the screen (Figure 6: SafePace Beacon Control Software: main window). The main window of SafePace Beacon Control Software is divided into three panels. You will find the controls related to the communication parameters and connection management located in the top-left panel. The left panel of the main window contains buttons which are used to navigate through multiple pages which provide access to various functionality of the software. The right panel displays the selected function. Available functions: Figure 6: SafePace Beacon Control Software: main window Home Page: first page displayed when application is started Schedules: management of schedules library (create or edit schedules) Holidays & Exceptions: management of calendars of holidays and exceptions Copyright Traffic Logix Corp. SafePace Beacon Control Software: User Manual V 1.0

8 Manage Beacons: upload or download schedules, calendars and advanced parameters from/to connected system; save selected parameters to file or read previously saved parameters from file Software Settings: configuration of the SafePace Beacon Control Software Opening and Closing a Connection to the System In order to upload or download schedules, calendars and advanced parameters from or to your SafePace Beacon Control System a wireless connection needs to be established. As previously outlined, this connection is established through the virtual Serial Interface (Serial Port). Each Serial Port can be identified by its name: COM1, COM2, COM3 etc. To open a connection, you will need to select the proper Serial Port in the Port combo box or select Autodetect if you are unsure which port is being used. Once the Port has been selected, shift the Connection switch to the ON position (see Figure 7: Open Connection). Figure 7: Open Connection Copyright Traffic Logix Corp. SafePace Beacon Control Software: User Manual V 1.0

9 NOTE SafePace Beacon Control Software builds the list of available Serial Ports at start-up. If your Bluetooth adapter is not connected to the computer when you start the software application, it will not be able to detect it afterwards. Please plug the Bluetooth adapter into your computer and allow a few seconds to pass for driver activation BEFORE you start the software. If you forgot to plug in the adapter prior to starting the software, please close the software and restart it after the adapter is plugged in. A connection is not required to work with your library of Schedules and Calendars of Holidays & Exception or to complete your Configuration. In the event that the Autodetect option is selected, SafePace Beacon Control Software will try to find the connected SafePace Beacon System first. If the software is unable to detect the connected system, the proper Serial Port will have to be selected manually. This can be done by selecting the ports one at a time from the drop-down menu until the correct port is recognized. For more computer savvy users, the port which the Bluetooth adapter is using can be identified by going into Control Panel Administrative Tools Device Manager Ports. To close the connection and release the Serial Port, shift the Connection switch to the OFF position (see Figure 7: Open Connection). Schedules You can set your beacons to turn ON and OFF at pre-programmed times and days of the week. This scheduling feature is very practical in school zones. Each schedule is identified by a unique name and may contain up to 16 records. You can create an unlimited number of schedules, although only one schedule can be used by the system at a time. Click the Schedules button located in the left panel of the main window (Figure 6: SafePace Beacon Control Software: main window) to access the schedules management interface (see Figure 8: ). At the top of the window, you will find the list of created schedules. Using buttons located to the right of list you can: Add a new schedule ( Add New Schedule button) Reneme a schedule ( Rename Schedule button) Delete a schedule ( Delete Selected Schedule button) Copyright Traffic Logix Corp. SafePace Beacon Control Software: User Manual V 1.0

10 Figure 8: Schedules Management Each time you create or rename a schedule, you will be prompted to enter a new schedule s name which is used as a unique identifier of the schedule. The list of the records of the selected schedule will be displayed in the Selected Schedule grid. Using the buttons located at the right of the list you can: Add a new record to the selected schedule ( Add Record button) Edit a selected record ( Edit Record button) Copy selected record ( Copy Record button) Delete a selected record ( Delete Selected button) The Schedule Record window (see Figure 9: Schedule Record) is used to add, edit and copy a schedule record. You can select the day(s) of the week and the time of the day when the beacons goes ON and OFF. In addition to the normal days of the week you can create a schedule for one of three Special Day Modes which represent a virtual week day and can be used in the calendar of Holidays & Exceptions (see Holidays & Exceptions for more details) Copyright Traffic Logix Corp. SafePace Beacon Control Software: User Manual V 1.0

11 Figure 9: Schedule Record Click the Save button to save modifications and close this window or click on the Cancel button to close the window and disregard any changes. Holidays & Exceptions Sometimes, you may need to make exceptions in your schedules. For example, you may want the beacon system to act differently during holidays, summer and winter vacation or for school days with early dismissal times. The Calendars of Holidays & Exceptions were designed particularly for this purpose. You can select the day of the year or periods of the year when you want your beacon system to act differently. The beacon system could use a substitute day of the week or virtual day type (Special Day Modes) instead of actual day of the week during the period of exception. Such records are grouped into Calendars. Each calendar can contain up to 16 records, and only one calendar can be programmed into the system. However, you can have an unlimited number of calendars in your library, for example; in case you are managing multiple beacon systems in various locations within your school district that do not have the same exact schedules. Click the Holidays & Exceptions button located in the left panel of the main window (Figure 6: SafePace Beacon Control Software: main window) to access this interface ( Figure 10: Exceptions and ). Each Calendar of Exceptions is represented by its name and may contain up to 16 records. Each record represents one particular day (in case of a holiday) or a range of days (for example school breaks or summer vacation) Copyright Traffic Logix Corp. SafePace Beacon Control Software: User Manual V 1.0

12 Figure 10: Exceptions and Holidays At the top of the window you will find the list of previously created Calendars. Using the buttons at the right you can: Create a new calendar ( Create New Calendar button) Reneme a calendar ( Rename Calendar button) Delete a calendar ( Delete Calendar button) Each time you create or rename a Calendar, you will be prompted to enter a new Calendar name. The list of the records of the selected Calendar will be displayed in the Selected Calendar grid. Using the buttons located at the right of the list you can: Add a new record to the selected Calendar ( Add Record button) Edit a selected record ( Edit Record button) Delete a selected record ( Delete Record button) The Calendar Record window (see Figure 11: Holiday or Exception) is used to add, edit and copy a schedule record Copyright Traffic Logix Corp. SafePace Beacon Control Software: User Manual V 1.0

13 Figure 11: Holiday or Exception You can select the day(s) for the holiday or exception, and which Day Mode you want to use for this day. You can also choose to use a range of the days by checking the Range End Date checkbox. In this case, you have to enter the last day of the range. Click the Save button to save modifications you made and close this window or the Cancel button to close the window and disregard any changes. Manage Beacons Once the connection to the Serial Port is successfully established or if you want to prepare the beacons configuration off-line and save it to files, you can access the beacons management interface (Figure 12: Manage Beacons) by clicking the Manage Beacons button on the left side panel. You will find Schedule, Holidays & Exceptions and Advanced Settings at the top part of Manage Beacons interface, and other controls such as Manual Override, Load/Save and Upload/Download buttons at the bottom. Manage Beacons: Schedules Using the Schedules tab one can manage a schedule which can be directly uploaded or downloaded to the connected beacon system, or saved into a configuration file. This interface is similar to the schedules management interface (Figure 8: ). The grid displays records of the current schedule. You can use the buttons at the right of the schedule s grid to control the schedule: Copyright Traffic Logix Corp. SafePace Beacon Control Software: User Manual V 1.0

14 Figure 12: Manage Beacons Load Schedule: load schedule from your library of schedules Add Record: add record to current schedule Edit Record: edit selected schedule s record Copy Record: copy selected schedule s record Delete Record: delete selected schedule s record Manage Beacons: Holidays & Exceptions You may choose to program a Calendar of Holidays & Exceptions into your beacon using Holidays & Exceptions tab. This interface is similar to Holidays & Exceptions management interface (Figure 10: Exceptions and Holidays). The grid displays the records of the current calendar. You can use the buttons at the right of the calendar s grid to control the calendar: Load Calendar: load schedule from your library of calendars Add Record: add record to current calendar Edit Record: edit selected calendar s record Delete Record: delete selected calendar s record Copyright Traffic Logix Corp. SafePace Beacon Control Software: User Manual V 1.0

15 Manage Beacons: Advanced Settings Advanced settings of the SafePace Beacon System can be controlled via Advanced Settings tab (Figure 13: Advanced Settings). Beacons advanced settings include: Figure 13: Advanced Settings Flashing Pattern and Flashing Speed: a choice of one of six flashing modes and one of five flashing speeds; by default, these parameters are set to MUTCD defaults: Alternating One Flash pattern and Medium speed (55 flashes per minute) System Designation: allows the configuration of a beacon system as a Stand Alone system, or as a part of Master-Slave network of beacon systems, in which a Master Beacon wirelessly synchronizes the ON/OFF status of the Slave Beacons via a special Inter-System radio channel Inter-System Channel: a communication channel used for master-slave communications; choose one of nine communication channels (#1:2405MHz, #2:2410MHz, #3:2415MHz, #4:2420MHz, #5:2425MHz, #6:2430MHz, #7:2435MHz, #8:2440MHz, #9:2445MHz) Brightness Variation: a variable range which is used by the system to adjust brightness, taking into account the level of ambient light DST Settings: set parameters for automatic Daylight Savings time adjustments; select the dates and time of the adjustment, as well as the time offset, which can be 60 minutes (one hour) or 30 minutes, depending on the region Copyright Traffic Logix Corp. SafePace Beacon Control Software: User Manual V 1.0

16 Manual Override The SafePace Beacon Control Software allows for the manual override of the current programmed schedule. You may choose to unconditionally switch the beacons ON or OFF until some preset time during the current day. To do this, choose desired state using the Action drop-down box and select a time until which you want the selected state to be set using the Until edit control. You do not have to set Until time if you want to override state to auto mode. Press Override button to write parameters directly to the connected SafePace Beacon System when all parameters are set. NOTE Any override settings can be overruled by the position of the manual switch. All software settings (schedules or overrides) will only work when the manual switch is in Auto position. Real-Time Diagnostics The current state of the connected SafePace Beacon System can be evaluated using Real-Time Diagnostics. Click the Real Time Diagnostics button to open the Real-Time Diagnostics interface (Figure 14: Real-Time Diagnostics). Figure 14: Real-Time Diagnostics This interface allows you to see the current date and time kept by the Real-Time Clock chip on-board the connected beacon, power supply voltage, beacons state (ON or OFF), the state of override mode and position of the manual switch. Uploading and Downloading configuration to/from Beacons Click the Upload to Beacon button to program all parameters specified in Schedules, Holidays & Exceptions and Advanced Parameters tabs. The real-time clock and calendar of the connected Copyright Traffic Logix Corp. SafePace Beacon Control Software: User Manual V 1.0

17 SafePace Beacon System will be synchronized at the same time. Optionally you may choose not to upload advanced settings or not to synchronize the real-time clock and calendar by un-checking Update Beacons Advanced Settings and/or Synchronize Beacons Clock. The current set of parameters programmed into connected beacons can be downloaded to the SafePace Beacon Control Software by clicking the Download from Beacon button. This includes current schedules, calendar of Holidays & Exceptions and Advanced Settings. Save and Load Settings to/from File You can save settings to a file or load it from a file, either on your computer or from a file transferred from someone else s computer, by clicking the Save to File or Load from File buttons respectively. A standard Save to or Load from dialog box will appear. The actual appearance of this dialog box depends on the version of your computer s operating system. Print Configuration A printable copy of current configuration parameters can be generated by clicking the Print Configuration button (Figure 15: Configuration Report). The generated report will include a schedule, calendar and advanced parameters. You can save this report as an Adobe PDF file or print it directly to keep a hard copy of configuration for future reference. Figure 15: Configuration Report Copyright Traffic Logix Corp. SafePace Beacon Control Software: User Manual V 1.0

18 Software Settings You can modify core parameters of SafePace Beacon Control Software using Software Settings interface. Once you click the Software Settings button you ll see the set of available parameters (Figure 16: Software Settings). Database File SafePace Beacon Control Software keeps all schedules and calendars of holidays and exceptions in one database file. By default this file is located in the folder dedicated by your Operating System to store Application Data. You can choose to relocate the data file by copying the file to a new location and then pointing the software to this location by clicking Browse button (a standard file selection dialog will pop-up). Figure 16: Software Settings Manual Settings via On-Board Control You can modify the most important Advanced Parameters of the SafePace Beacon System such as: Flashing Pattern Flashing Speed System Designation Inter-System Channel Copyright Traffic Logix Corp. SafePace Beacon Control Software: User Manual V 1.0

19 Maximum of the Brightness variation range Minimum of the Brightness variation range using on-board buttons and a display on the SafePace Beacon System controller. Click the Mode button to activate the on-board configuration menu (Figure 17: On-Board Controls). The LEDs on the left will display the currently selected parameter and 7-segment display will show the current value of the selected parameter. Press UP or DOWN button to modify the selected parameter. Figure 17: On-Board Controls You can choose one of the available values for each parameter: Flashing Patterns: o Co Constant ON o S1 Simultaneous One Flash o S2 Simultaneous Two Flashes o S3 Simultaneous Three Flashes o A1 Alternating One Flash (MUTCD default) o A2 Alternating Two Flashes o A3 Alternating Three Flashes Flashing Speed: o L1 Very Slow (Low speed 1) o L2 Slow (Low speed 2) o df Medium (MUTCD default) o F1 Fast (Fast speed 1) o F2 Very Fast (Fast speed 2) System Designation: o of Stand Alone (OFF) Copyright Traffic Logix Corp. SafePace Beacon Control Software: User Manual V 1.0

20 o o tr Master Beacon (transmitter) rc Slave Beacon (receiver) Inter-System Channel: o of Stand Alone (OFF) o C1 C9 Channel Number (from 1 to 9) Brightness Variations (Minimum and Maximum): o 10, 20, 30, 40, 50, 60, 70, 80, 90 Brightness in percentages o FL Full Brightness Manual Switch You may choose to override the beacon system s current state using the manual switch. The switch has three positions: ON beacon is always ON (unconditionally) AUTO beacon works according to schedule, or software override settings, or commands from master beacon OFF beacon is always OFF (unconditionally) The master beacon system will transmit the status of the master s manual switch to the slave beacon system(s). Each slave beacon system can be controlled independently by its own manual switch. Figure 18: Manual Switch Copyright Traffic Logix Corp. SafePace Beacon Control Software: User Manual V 1.0

21 Technical Support If you have questions or comments regarding the SafePace Beacon System and/or the SafePace Beacon Control Software, please feel free to contact our customer support center by phone: (866) or by Copyright Traffic Logix Corp. SafePace Beacon Control Software: User Manual V 1.0