California-based Siemens subsidiary J2 Innovations has upgraded its software platform for smart buildings, smart equipment and IoT applications.

The dashboard builder app gives OEMs, facility managers and end-users the freedom to create and operate dynamic dashboards for smart buildings, smart equipment and IoT.

Managing every aspect of building, equipment and IoT environments without complex engineering effort has been improved with the release of Fin Framework 5.1, the latest upgrade of the software platform.

The release, to be in beta shortly with a full launch scheduled for summer, will have a dashboard builder app that, for the first time, allows facility managers and end-users to create and manage their own dynamic visualisations of smart buildings, equipment and IoT devices in a smartphone friendly way and without the need for complex configurations.

Flexible and easy-to-use, a widget navigation system can make light work of connecting data feeds to system components for creating and monitoring complex building scenarios.

“Since its conception, Fin Framework has firmly established itself as one of the industry’s most innovative software platforms for smart building, smart equipment and IoT applications,” said Alex Rohweder, CEO at J2 Innovations. “The enhancements made in this latest revision elevate the platform into a new sphere of capabilities. With Fin 5.1, you can deliver dynamic and interactive views of building and equipment data, accessible both through desktop and smartphone, and all that without the need for complex engineering. Dashboard widgets and functions can simply be added and removed to build a working picture of the building environment.”

A building owner, facilities manager, systems integrator or end user can access the system to check floor plans, equipment health and status, temperature levels or any other parameters in a zone, floor or building, then make key decisions about how to manage that environment, all on-the-fly. This can increase the energy, asset and service efficiency of the building.

A multi-instance architecture feature, called Fin Network, has also been incorporated into the release. This enables easier management of multiple Fin instances. Previously, when working with floors on a site or locations, access could only be gained by logging into each Fin instance. The Fin Network tool stacks multiple instances, local or remote, into a project tree where they can be accessed as a group to save time and resources.

The release is also Bacnet BTL certified for OWS (operator workstation), now supporting more visibility of Bacnet properties and objects. A version of the firm’s KNX IP connector enables seamless integration with KNX devices.

Due to the launch last year of the firm’s Edge2Cloud technology, which provides secure access to any Fin Framework project, J2 can bring a host of enhancements with 5.1. These include access tokens that allow other Fin or third-party IT and cloud applications to pull data from Fin instances remotely through Edge2Cloud, and the ability to access dashboards directly from the Edge2Cloud interface, plus multi-language support.

The software framework provides integration, control, analysis, visualisation and connection for OEMs to customise and incorporate into their products or systems. It is already used by system manufacturers worldwide involved in BAS, HVAC, lighting, shading and IoT control in buildings.

Users can monitor, control and visualise all the operational and energy assets such as HVAC, lighting and security systems inside a building or buildings across numerous sites to optimise the comfort levels and energy efficiency. Dashboards flag the status or health of assets as well as the maintenance requirements of all the connected devices, while trend monitoring and utility metering are reported by the system.

Plug-and-lay features simplify the installation of any pre-configured hardware. Fin Framework interfaces with Bacnet, Modbus, KNX, OPC-UA, MQTT and further open and proprietary protocols for linking to almost any system.

Natively built for semantic tagging with support for the Project Haystack 4 open standard, Fin is said to provide an intuitive user-experience with intelligent data-management, analytics and simplified workflows.

“We are excited to – together with our partners – further contribute with the release of Fin 5.1 to the proliferation of smart and IoT friendly technology in the building industry,” said Rohweder. “It has never been easier to make the right decisions for small to large buildings.”

J2 Innovations is a software technology company based in California. It created the Fin Framework for smart buildings, smart equipment and IoT applications. Fin can integrate, control, manage, analyse, visualise, connect and be embedded on a controller, gateway, HMI or server.