Beckhoff Automation: Building Automation: Master Terminals Eliminate Special Energy Monitoring Hardware

In order to more efficiently gather data on energy consumption in building automation solutions, Beckhoff Automation has introduced the new KL6781 M-Bus master terminal. The KL6781 M-Bus master terminal extends the range of energy measurement terminals from Beckhoff: electricity, water, gas or energy meters with M-Bus interfaces can be simply integrated into the company’s “fieldbus-independent” Bus Terminal system, rendering external M-Bus gateways unnecessary.

The KL6781 M-Bus master terminal, in its compact 12 mm housing, enables direct connection of up to 40 M-Bus devices, each with 1.5 mA current consumption. To connect additional devices beyond that limit, users simply install another KL6781 in the Bus Terminal node. The M-Bus master terminal converts the data from the Beckhoff I/O system into M-Bus-compliant values. A total of 24 bytes of data per terminal are available for this purpose.

The TwinCAT PLC M-Bus software library, which is available free of charge from Beckhoff, simplifies the integration of M-Bus devices from numerous manufacturers through predefined profiles.

In addition to building automation, the M-Bus solution can also be used in machine design and plant engineering applications, where consumption meters with the M-Bus interface are used for logging load peaks, for example.

The M-Bus terminal extends the comprehensive Beckhoff I/O portfolio with yet another useful component. With more than 400 different signal types, the Beckhoff Bus Terminal system covers virtually all signal types encountered in building services engineering. It not only supports all common sensors and actuators, but can also integrate all bus systems that are relevant for building services using suitable Bus Coupler types. Subordinate subsystems such as KNX/EIB, LON, DALI, MP-Bus, EnOcean or serial RS232/RS485 connections such as Modbus can be integrated easily via communication Bus Terminals.