LUCON® 2

Description

Based on our successful modular light controller LUCON® and with more than 10 years of experience in designing and manufacturing light controllers, we have developed a new generation of modular light controllers: LUCON® 2. It is mainly intended for use in industrial image processing applications. In order to achieve the best results with LED lighting (key point: brightness stability as well as reproducibility), it’s important to supply the lighting with a constant current. Therefore, each channel of the LUCON® 2 contains a freely adjustable constant current source. To achieve the highest possible efficiency, the voltage is also regulated. This eliminates the need for additional cooling (such as large heat sinks or even fans).

Despite its compact design, each LUCON® 2 module has an independent constant current source and an independent voltage regulation. This makes LUCON® 2 compatible with almost any available LED lighting: with or without integrated series resistor. Each channel supports currents up to 20A, which makes it possible to overdrive the connected light. This enables even shorter exposure times and thus faster cycle times.

Easy and quick configuration

No matter if you prefer a graphical user interface or command-based communication for configuration?, with LUCON® 2 you get both! For command-based communication a serial interface with RS232 protocol and an ethernet interface with UDP protocol are available. The graphical user interface only requires an ethernet connection and an internet browser - there is no need for further software. For the deeper integration of the LUCON® 2 into your application we provide a software development kit (SDK). You can find it in “Downloads”. The respective channel configuration is saved locally per module.

Flexibility and scalability through modular design

The modular design of the LUCON® 2 lighting controller offers unique flexibility. One LUCON® 2 module supplies power to one LED light source. In total, up to 16 independent light sources can be controlled in this way. Since a LUCON® 2 Master consists of both a communication and a power section, it serves as the single configuration interface for the user to all connected light channels. A LUCON® 2 Slave, on the other hand, has only a power section. Further details on the modules can be found in the “Modules” tab above.

Various operating modes for every application

Every application has its own requirements. That is why the LUCON® 2 light controllers support three operating modes: Continuous (the light is simply turned on at the pre-set current), Pulse (the light is controlled for a given time with an adjustable current) and Switch (the light is operated for the set current as long as a trigger signal is active). The LUCON® 2 light controllers have a trigger input and a trigger output. Both are optically isolated to provide the greatest possible flexibility.

Backwards compatible with the predecessor

LUCON® 2 is backwards compatible with LUCON®. Individual modules cannot be combined with each other (green and grey). However, the pin assignments as well as the communication protocol are largely identical, so that LUCON® can be replaced by LUCON® 2 in existing applications. Check out the “Downloads” tab for more information on how to upgrade to LUCON® 2.

Modules

The modular design of the LUCON® 2 light controller series allows great flexibility and can be adapted to any application. The modules communicate via their own bus system. The respective module configuration is saved separately in each module. This makes it possible to change a module at any time (only when power is off). Each module works completely independent of the others. To ensure that the individual modules can be correctly configured and addressed, each has a small rotary coding switch on the front of the housing that can be used to set the channel number. The Master module should be given the number 1. The connected Slave modules should then be given the numbers 2 to 16 in ascending order.

The following modules are currently available:

LUCON® 2 Master

The Master module combines a communication unit and a power unit. Thus, the Master module is the link between a computer and the power units. Up to 15 Slave modules can be connected to one Master module. The external power supply is connected to the Master module and from there distributed to the attached Slave modules via the cross-connector bus. This has the advantage that a power supply is only required at one point. The integrated power unit means that one illumination can already be connected to the Master module. If only one lighting is to be controlled, no further modules are necessary. The power unit in the Master module has the same specifications as in the Slave module. These include a max. current of up to 20A, a minimum pulse duration of 5 µs and an independent trigger input and output.

LUCON® 2 Slave

There is only a power unit in the Slave module. A Master module is therefore required for configuration. In addition, a Master module is needed to supply the slave modules with power via the cross-connector bus. The configuration of each module is saved separately per module in a local nonvolatile memory. If a module is changed, this does not affect the other modules. Furthermore, each module works independently of each other. Each Slave module has its own current and voltage regulation, as well as its own input and output trigger. For each additional lighting (the first lighting can be connected to the Master module), another Slave module is required.

Don’t find what you are looking for?

The modular design allows us to react flexibly to specific requirements. You need a module with a higher output current? RS-232 and UDP are not enough for you as communication interfaces? You need a connection to a fieldbus system (e.g. EtherCAT)?

Contact us and we will find a solution together!

Specification

¹⁾ If a temperature limit is exceeded, the output is powered off automatically. Please observe that the total current over all modules may not exceed 24 A.

Downloads

Documentation

Bedienungsanleitung (Rev. 1.5, de) (PDF)

Manual (Rev. 1.5, en) (PDF)

Quick Start Guide (Rev. 1.0, de) (PDF)

Quick Start Guide (Rev. 1.0, en) (PDF)

Switch from LUCON® to LUCON® 2 (Rev. 1.1, en) (PDF)

CAD Files

LUCON® 2 Master (STEP)

LUCON® 2 Slave (STEP)

SDK

SDK for C/C# (Ver. 1.0.2) (ZIP)

Firmware

Firmware Update Guide (Rev. 1.1, en) (PDF)

LUCON® 2 Communication Module (Ver. 1.2.2) (ZIP)

LUCON® 2 Power Module (Ver. 1.0.5) (ZIP)

Specification

Datenblatt (Rev. 1.4, de) (PDF)

Datasheet (Rev. 1.4, en) (PDF)

Videos

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