Toshiba’s intuitive touchscreen controller
7th May 2015
UK: Toshiba Air Conditioning has introduced a new touchscreen controller which is said to offer unprecedented power and ease of use for both installers and end users.
The new 7in colour touchscreen controller will, it is said, allow even those unfamiliar with air conditioning to control systems and optimise performance and indoor comfort. It uses an intuitive touchscreen with icons, similar to a large smart phone, rather than physical buttons.
With the ability to control up to 64 indoor units using its capacitive touchscreen, the new Toshiba controller marks a departure from conventional air conditioning controls based on slower-response resistive touchscreen technology.
It is described as having a brilliantly clear colour display with pin-sharp graphical interface, providing lightning response to the operator’s touch commands.
According to Fraser Hymas, Toshiba’s control system manager, who headed the development of the new controller, a key element of the design brief was to make it simple and intuitive to use, without the need to refer to a manual, while enabling users to quickly access all functions with minimum layers to navigate.
In addition to primary control, alarm and scheduling functions, and quick access to units and parameters, the controller also acts as a web server, enabling it to host web pages.
The system offers a host of powerful functions that extend its use, with future developments including: energy monitoring with historical data backup, enabling long term trends to be analysed and managed; power meter pulse inputs for four air conditioning systems; the ability to take account of input from an outside air sensor, to provide frost protection for buildings and optimised heating start and operation; the ability for alarms to be reported automatically to building supervisors and designated service providers via email; potential to display floor plans for ease of unit location and control; a supervisor touch screen to link multiple controllers, to accommodate larger systems with more than 64 indoor units.
