Watchdogs allow various performance scoring criteria and event notification of devices to generate in real-time, providing a quick analysis of how equipment is operating and sending alerts when critical events and alarms occur. In the event of a critical event or alarm, Watchdogs provide alerts via Connect alerts, email, etc. and have the capability to attach excel trend reports for the device, allowing the recipient to view actionable information leading up to the event. The following set of instructions demonstrates examples of the utilization of Watchdogs from a template and manually.
Reporting options:
- Scorecard report from a watchdog
Watchdog reports
Download the Watchdogs events from templates training guide.
Setting up a new watchdog
Choose the Configuration Explorer
icon and then choose Watchdogs.
- Choose New Watchdog.
On the General Settings tab in the Watchdog Editor, enter a Name and Description (optional) of the Watchdog and choose a Profile.
If you choose a Device Class profile (and no other event notifications triggers exist for this watchdog), the Use Template Object window displays. This window provides you with the option to choose event notifications from the template library.
- Choose Yes to use the template library to choose Event Notification triggers to be used.
In the Event Trigger window, mark the Check All check box or choose trigger groups or individual triggers to be used.
If any of the triggers display with red text, the Check All will be disabled and you will not be able to mark those check boxes.
- Choose Next.
A summary of the Event Notification triggers display, choose Finish and continue setting up the watchdog.
OR
- Choose No to continue with the watchdog creation. You will have the option to use the template library or create a custom Event Notification from the Event Notifications tab.
External Objects tab
The External Objects tab allows the user to bring in objects from other devices for event notifications and scoring. For example, a score could be created to evaluate temperature rise in a duct from the AHU to the terminal unit by comparing the discharge air temperature of the terminal unit to the supply air temperature of the air handling unit.
Event Notifications tab
The Event Notifications tab allows the user to create and edit trigger criteria that will be used to generate an alarm in the event the device meets this condition.
- Choose Add to create a new Event Notification trigger.
- Choose to create a custom Event Notification trigger and then choose Next. For information on using the template library see [ General Settings 2a .
- When creating a custom Event Notification trigger, the following tabs display:
On the General Settings tab in the Event Notification Editor, enter a description, trigger delay, and event type.
The Criteria tab allows the user to create and edit trigger criteria that will be used to generate an alarm in the event the device meets this condition.
The Actions tab allows the user to determine what kind of action will be taken in the event a device exceeds the threshold previously determined by the trigger criteria. There are options to temporarily disable the action (ex. a known maintenance issue) and to send notification on return to normal.The five actions that can be selected in the case of an event trigger are:
Connect Alert - A notification generated by Connect within the user interface.
Send Email - An email is sent in the case of an event. Enter the subject, message, recipient(s), and report to include, as well as the export type (XLSX or CSV).
Web API - Allows Connect to post to a 3rd party WebAPI when an event is triggered.
Connect Write - The ConnectWrite Action Type allows the event to write to an object's value. The user must be highly knowledgeable with the control system. This action must be carefully engineered. The Operator action for a return to automatic operation later must be planned.
Signature Service Call - The SignatureServiceCall Action Type provides a method for automatically generating a Signature Service Call. This can be used to automatically dispatch to a technician.
- Choose OK.
Scoring tab
The Scoring tab is used to set up how the scores are attained.
- To create a scoring parameter, choose Add.
Enter a name for the scoring criterion.
- Choose the type of score. The type allows the user to compare:
- FB vs. SP - Compare a feedback to a setpoint.
- FB vs. SP w/ Deadband - Compare a feedback to a setpoint with a deadband.
- FB vs. Constant - Compare a feedback to a constant.
- FB vs. 2 SP - Compare a feedback to two setpoints.
- FB vs 2 SP w/ Deadband - Compare a feedback to two setpoints with a deadband.
- Custom - Create a custom score.
- (For FB vs. SP) Choose the Feedback Object. This is generally an input such as space temperature or airflow.
- Choose the SP Object.
- Enter the Max Error. This value is the maximum amount that the feedback can deviate from setpoint. Any deviation equal or greater than this maximum error will be given a value of 0. Any deviation between 5 and 0 will be scaled from 0-100%.
- Enter the Weight of Overall Score. This value assigns a weight to the score when using two or more scoring criteria.
- Choose OK.
Statistics tab
The Statistics tab displays information regarding the devices using this watchdog. The device name and current score are displayed here.
Editing a watchdog
Choose the Configuration Explorer icon and then choose Watchdogs.
- Right-click on existing watchdog and choose Properties.
Viewing the watchdog dashboard
- Choose drop-down to the right of the Event Notifications
The watchdog dashboard displays.The dashboard information includes:
- A grid of the watchdog notifications
- A timeline chart
- A pie chart indicating the types of events.
- You can filter the results by agent.
Viewing events and scores
Events and Scores show the score for the portfolio, each agent, and each device that has a Watchdog associated with its profile. When you first access the Events and Scoring dashboard, the portfolio displays. Choose the arrow to display the agent. The profile and agent score(s) display on the top left of the window. The initial display is the profile score. The current score displays as well as a colored bar. The colors of the bar displayed are directly related to the score. This gives you a quick visual of the profile scores.
- Green - The score is within a good range.
- Yellow - The score is within intermediate range.
- Red - The score is low.
To access Events and Scoring:
- Choose drop-down to the right of the Event Notifications
- Choose Events and Scoring to display an overview of the current portfolio scores in the top left of the window.
- To view the agent scores, choose the Root right arrow
to display a score for all agents. Choose the arrow next to Agents to expand the agent list. - To view equipment scores, choose the right arrow to drop down the equipment list, and then choose an equipment item.
In the right pane, the Scoring tab displays three sections for the device selected:
- The top section displays a list of the event triggers and their current score value.
- The middle section displays the date and time (based on the designated intervals) of score values. You can choose a specific date/time and scroll horizontally to view each score. Additionally, when you choose the date/time, the black vertical line moves to that exact date/time on the chart.
- The bottom section displays a graph that shows the device scores by date/time. You can choose the scores to show/hide in the section directly above the chart. You can choose a specific date/time in the chart by clicking with your mouse. Doing so will also change the date/time that is selected in the table above. Hover your mouse over the chart for a specific time/date a pop-up displays the values of all monitored objects at that point in time.
Choose the Events tab displays two sections of event information for the device selected.
- The top section displays event trigger information.
- The bottom section shows a visual display of event active time durations. Placing the pointer on a bar will show a pop-up containing the object name, event start/end time, and the duration of the event.