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LED driver news: Tridonic and Universal Lighting Technologies support IoT functionality in luminaires

Tridonic adds IoT-Ready Alliance support in new LED driver, and a new dual-channel model, while Universal Lighting Technologies adds power for IoT sensors and controllers.

Heading toward the LightFair International event May 8–10 in Chicago, IL, a number of LED driver manufacturers have made news — including integration of features that support sensor-enabled connected lighting as a backbone for the Internet of Things (IoT). Tridonic and Enlighted have continued to push the IoT-Ready Alliance encouraging solid-state lighting (SSL) manufacturers to future proof their products, and Tridonic has added such support in a new driver. Tridonic also has a new multi-channel driver for direct/indirect luminaires. Universal Lighting Technologies has announced a new driver that in addition to powering an LED light engine can also power sensors and electronics that are integrated into smart luminaires.It was at LFI 2017 when a group of companies announced the formation of the IoT-Ready Alliance led primarily by Enlighted and Tridonic. Enlighted CEO Joe Costello has been very proactive in arguing that the industry needs to prepare for an IoT future or accept that the industry might set back the smart building movement by a decade. He made that point repeatedly during a keynote presentation at Strategies in Light 2017.rainproof led power supply

Because some specifiers and facility managers simply can’t afford to install smart luminaires today, the IoT Ready Alliance is seeking to develop standards that will enable luminaires to be upgraded in the field with sensors and connectivity. And Tridonic’s IoT-Ready Driver is compliant with draft specifications under development by the alliance.

Tridonic said it will demonstrate the driver at LFI, working with the company’s own net4more connectivity platform announced last year. And the company will also demo the driver working with Enlighted’s system, and said the capability is present to support any protocol/network including ZigBee and Bluetooth Mesh.

Ultimately, the alliance needs support for its specifications throughout the subsystems that comprise a luminaire, although the driver is a critical place to start. “Building on this first product introduction, we will be evolving our existing sensors to the IoT-Ready standard,” said Enlighted’s Costello. “This announcement represents the first of many significant contributions from the IoT-Ready Alliance that will enable new technologies and speed the adoption of LED lighting and building control networks in the US.”