Commissioning

Two things decide the order below. The module holds every output off until it has an address, and it reads its output settings and its equations once, at startup — so every configuration step ends with a restart, and the outputs only come alive at the end.

Everything below is run on the boat's Brain. In the examples the module has been given instance 3, which makes its device id 1 × 64 + 3 = 67.

1. Wire it and power it up

Outputs, inputs and the MUXEN bus as in What you need. At power-up:

• the system LED blinks once a second;
• the front panel shows a waiting screen for a few seconds, then the output page — every cell in fault and #64 in the header, which is what a module with no address looks like.

A LED blinking much faster than that means the supply voltage is outside the window the module accepts — fix that first, nothing else will work.

2. Find it on the bus

muxen-uds -i can0 uid --scan

A module that has never been configured publishes nothing periodic, so a passive scan does not see it. This active scan does, and reports its UID.

3. Give it its instance number

muxen-uds -i can0 uid --uid <the-module-uid> --instance 3

The module writes the number and restarts by itself. Instance numbers run 0…62 and must be unique among the power modules of the boat. Do this one module at a time — two unconfigured modules on the bus at once collide on the parking address.

The same thing can be done from the front panel, with no laptop:

1. walk to the last page with the right arrow — the one showing the product and software identifiers;
2. press pad 8, then pad 1: a hidden screen opens;
3. step the value with the −1/−5/−10 and +1/+5/+10 pads, then press V to validate. The module writes it and restarts.

The panel counts from 1

The front panel displays instance numbers one higher than the MUXEN instance: entering 4 on that screen gives MUXEN instance 3, and a module at instance 3 shows #4 in its header. An unaddressed module shows #64.

4. Check it is on the bus

mosquitto_sub -h 127.0.0.1 -t 'device/1/3/#' -v

life must arrive twice a second and voltage once a second. The eight output states in life are all power-off at this point, unless an output has been configured to come up on.

5. Set the outputs up

One output at a time, by name. The defaults are in Reference — Bloc 8 power module; these are the ones that matter on every installation:

# output 1: latching (a press toggles it), off after a restart
muxen-uds -i can0 -F 1 -I 3 writeconfig --name LatchOut1 --value 1
muxen-uds -i can0 -F 1 -I 3 writeconfig --name DefaultSteOut1 --value 0

# trip it at 5 A held for half a second (stay within the output's rating)
muxen-uds -i can0 -F 1 -I 3 writeconfig --name MaxCurrentOut1 --value 5000
muxen-uds -i can0 -F 1 -I 3 writeconfig --name AlertDelayOut1 --value 500

# a bilge pump on output 2: pulse of 10 s per press
muxen-uds -i can0 -F 1 -I 3 writeconfig --name LatchOut2 --value 2
muxen-uds -i can0 -F 1 -I 3 writeconfig --name OffDelayOut2 --value 10000

# saloon lights on output 3, dimmable, never below 15 %
muxen-uds -i can0 -F 1 -I 3 writeconfig --name Dimmable3 --value 1
muxen-uds -i can0 -F 1 -I 3 writeconfig --name DimmingMiniLvl3 --value 15
muxen-uds -i can0 -F 1 -I 3 writeconfig --name DimmingDfltLvl3 --value 100 --reboot

Write the last one of a batch with --reboot: the modes, the delays, the trip currents and the equations are read at startup and nothing changes until the module restarts.

Never set a minimum dimming level above the maximum

An output configured that way is refused at startup — and so is every output after it. See Common mistakes — Bloc 8 power module.

6. Test each output

Before any of the boat's logic is in place, switch each output from the Brain and watch what really moves:

mosquitto_pub -h 127.0.0.1 -t device/1/3/command -m '{"channel":0,"requestOn":true}'
mosquitto_pub -h 127.0.0.1 -t device/1/3/command -m '{"channel":0,"requestOff":true}'

channel is 0…7 for outputs 1…8. Check the same output on life, on the front panel, and on the boat.

To watch the current while testing, turn the current frames on:

mosquitto_pub -h 127.0.0.1 -t device/1/3/command -m '{"requestOnPublishCurrent":true}'
mosquitto_sub -h 127.0.0.1 -t 'device/1/3/current1' -v

That stays on until it is turned off or the module restarts. To have it after every restart, set EnCurrentPeriodic instead.

7. Give the outputs their rules, if they have any

EqnOut1 … EqnOut8 hold one logical expression per output, over signals published by the rest of the boat, and EqnVsig1 … EqnVsig4 four more that publish a result without switching anything. They are written by Raken, which knows the boat's signals by name; writing them by hand is possible but not the normal path.

An output with an empty equation — the default — is simply not driven by the bus logic: it still answers its pad and its commands.

An expression that does not parse is reported: the output shows as a fault on the panel, the module raises a diagnostic code, and only that output's equation is dropped — the pad and the commands keep working.

8. Name the outputs, and put the names on the panel

The names live in the boat's project on the Brain, and Raken draws them into the small images the panel displays:

1. Names tab of the module — the module's own name, the eight outputs, the six digital inputs, the three analog inputs;
2. Legends tab — generate the images from the names, then write them to the module.

For a whole boat at once:

muxen-uds -i can0 deploy --project <project-id> --epaper-only

One zone at a time, when a single label has to be corrected:

muxen-uds -i can0 -d 67 legend --zone 16 --payload <1600 hex characters>

Zone 16 is output 1, zone 23 is output 8; the full list is in Reference — Bloc 8 power module. Each image takes the module about a second to hand over to the panel, and the front pads do not answer while a transfer is running — write the labels before handing the boat over, not while someone is using it.

A zone that has never been written shows a built-in stand-in: OUT 3 for an output, UNCONFIGURED in the header.

9. Walk the panel

Right arrow, page by page: the outputs, their trip settings, the fault codes, the digital inputs, the analog inputs, the module's identity. Check that the trip settings shown are the ones written in step 5 and that the inputs move when the boat's contacts move — this is the fastest end-to-end check there is, and it needs no laptop.

10. Keep a copy

muxen-uds -i can0 -F 1 -I 3 readconfig --save-as-csv bloc8-3.csv

A factory reset erases every setting except, optionally, the instance number. The equations and the trip currents are not recoverable from the equipment itself.