Big Dog Power Multi-PDU

Version 1.5

Detailed Description

The Big Dog Power Multi-PDU driver provides centralized local-network control and monitoring for up to ten supported Big Dog Power power distribution units from one RTI driver instance. It supports the PR-S1PI, PR-W3PI, PR-V7PI, and PR-R13PI with model-derived control for 1, 3, 6, or 12 outlets, dealer-named PDU sources and outlets, independent enable and communication status for each PDU, serialized HTTP requests, automatic polling, manual status and metering refresh, outlet On, Off, Toggle, and Reboot commands, device-reported power and electrical feedback, local outlet-protection and protected-reboot policies, startup-safe event baselines, online and offline events, outlet-state events, command failure and rejection events, and detailed communication diagnostics. Each PDU remains independently configurable and a failed or disabled unit does not prevent the other configured PDUs from operating. Communication is direct over the trusted local network and does not require cloud connectivity.

Important Release and Support Notes

- This is a free driver. It has no trial period, license key, processor binding, or activation requirement.

- This is an independent Buttonwood Technologies driver and is not an official Big Dog Power or RTI product. Product names and trademarks belong to their respective owners.

- The driver controls real AC power. Commission every outlet using a noncritical load before connecting critical equipment.

- Never use an untested outlet command on the RTI processor, router, network switch, commissioning computer, or other equipment required to retain control of the system.

Supported Big Dog Power Units

- PR-S1PI: 1 controlled outlet. A live firmware 1.92 response was validated. This model does not use HTTP authentication in the driver.

- PR-W3PI: 3 controlled outlets.

- PR-V7PI: 6 controlled outlets. Its seventh physical receptacle is an uncontrolled loop-out and is not exposed by the driver.

- PR-R13PI: 12 controlled outlets.

The model selected in Driver Properties determines which outlet properties, commands, variables, and events Integration Designer exposes. Selecting the wrong model can expose commands for outlets the PDU does not report or hide valid outlets.

Install the Driver and Add PDU Sources

1. Install Big Dog Power Multi-PDU in Integration Designer and add one driver instance to the project.

2. The initial PDU source is created with the driver. Add one additional PDU source beneath the same driver for each additional physical PDU, up to ten total. Do not install a separate driver instance for each PDU.

3. Add only the sources the project needs. PDU Name and Enabled remain visible for every added source so a temporarily disabled source can later be restored without rebuilding its programming.

4. Assign every PDU a DHCP reservation or static local IP address. Verify its local web interface from the same network before configuring RTI.

5. Resend the project after adding a source or changing Driver Properties.

Driver Settings

Complete Polling Cycle - Approximate number of seconds in which the driver attempts one status request for every enabled PDU. Default 5; valid range 3-300. Increase this value for a large installation or busy processor.

Request Timeout - Seconds allowed for an HTTP response. Default 5; valid range 2-30.

Offline Failure Threshold - Consecutive failed requests before only that PDU is marked Offline. Default 3; valid range 1-10.

Command Spacing - Minimum milliseconds between serialized HTTP requests. Default 300; valid range 300-5000. Do not set below 300.

Enable Trace - Logs startup information, device snapshots, state changes, accepted or rejected commands, and communication errors. Enable during commissioning or troubleshooting.

Verbose HTTP Trace - When Trace is enabled, also logs routine requests and successful polls. Leave disabled during normal use.

Configure Each PDU Source

PDU Name - Dealer name shown for the RTI source, commands, variables, and events.

Enabled - When cleared, the source remains in the project but is not polled or controlled. Its status is Disabled; Online and Offline are both false; it is excluded from aggregate Online and Offline counts; and commands directed to it are rejected. Resend the project after changing this setting.

PDU Type - Select PR-S1PI, PR-W3PI, PR-V7PI, or PR-R13PI.

IP Address - Enter an IPv4 address or local hostname. An optional port may be appended, for example 10.0.50.16:8080. Do not include http://, https://, or an API path. HTTPS is not supported.

Use Credentials - Enable for supported models when the local PDU web interface requires a username and password. Credential properties are hidden for PR-S1PI.

Username and Password - Local PDU credentials. Avoid a percent sign in the PDU password because earlier Big Dog and RTI integration notes identify it as problematic for web access. The driver does not write credentials to TraceViewer.

Outlet Name - Dealer-facing RTI name for each model-supported outlet. Device-reported names remain available separately as feedback.

Outlet Protected - Startup policy that rejects Off and Toggle-to-Off.

Allow Reboot When Protected - Startup policy that determines whether Reboot is permitted while the outlet is Protected.

Driver Properties are authoritative startup defaults. Runtime Protection and Protected Reboot commands update the active driver policy but do not rewrite Driver Properties. A processor restart or project upload restores the configured values.

Network and Credential Security

The driver communicates directly with the local PDU HTTP interface and does not require cloud connectivity. Models using credentials send HTTP Basic authentication over unencrypted HTTP. Base64 is not encryption. Use the driver only on a trusted or isolated LAN, do not expose the PDU HTTP interface to the public Internet, and use a unique local PDU password when the model supports authentication.

Add Activities and Pages

1. Add each PDU source as an activity in every room where it will be controlled.

2. Select the PDU activity/source when opening its control page. A page link alone does not establish the

source context required by source-bound commands and feedback.

3. Assign commands and feedback from the same PDU source selected in that room.

4. If XP Diagnostics updates but a panel does not, first verify the room's current source and all source assignments.

Commands

Driver Commands provides Refresh All PDU Status, Refresh Selected PDU Status, and Refresh Selected PDU Metering.

Each PDU source provides Refresh Status. Refresh Metering is provided for PR-W3PI, PR-V7PI, and PR-R13PI. It is hidden for PR-S1PI because its validated status response supplies volts, amps, and watts and its separate metering endpoint returned no data.

Each model-supported outlet provides three commands:

- Outlet Name - Power: select On, Off, Toggle, or Reboot.

- Outlet Name - Protection: select Protect, Unprotect, or Toggle.

- Outlet Name - Protected Reboot: select Allow, Block, or Toggle.

Toggle requires a known reported state. If the first status poll has not completed, Toggle is rejected and a priority status refresh is requested. Following an accepted power command, the driver requests a new status report; feedback represents the PDU's report rather than the command request alone.

Power commands are attempted once. A timeout, connection failure, or unsuccessful HTTP response removes the command from the queue, updates Last Command Result, and signals Command Failed. A failed power command is not saved and replayed after reconnection.

Protection commands are local driver policy; they do not reconfigure the PDU. Place them on an integrator-only or passcode-protected page if end users should not change the policy.

Protection Behavior and Button Feedback

Protected rejects Off and Toggle-to-Off. On remains available. Reboot is permitted only when Allow Reboot When Protected is enabled. A protected outlet that is currently Off can still use Toggle to turn On.

Recommended button assignments:

- Power On and Off feedback: use the outlet On and Off variables.

- Off button Inactive: Protected.

- Protected Reboot policy button Inactive: Unprotected.

- Reboot button Inactive: Reboot Blocked.

Protected and Unprotected are inverse states. Reboot Blocked is true only when the outlet is Protected and the protected-reboot policy is Block. Reboot Allowed is the effective inverse. Do not use Protected as Toggle's Inactive variable when users must still be able to toggle an Off protected outlet On.

Variables and Events

Driver variables include Status, Build Identification, configured/online/offline PDU counts, queued HTTP requests, and Last Driver Error. Build Identification shows the packaged DEV, RC, or RELEASE channel for support purposes.

Per-PDU feedback includes configured and detected identity, Online and Offline, firmware, uptime, outlet counts, voltage protection, MOV raw states, network interface, Wi-Fi diagnostics, consecutive failures, last success, last communication error, and last command result. Per-outlet feedback includes configured and device names, On and Off, amps, volts, watts, uptime, protection policy, effective reboot permission, and optional reboot progress.

Events include PDU Online, PDU Offline, Command Failed, Command Rejected, Outlet Turned On, and Outlet Turned Off. The first complete status response establishes a silent event baseline. It does not produce false outlet transition events after a processor restart or project upload.

Some firmware omits rebootPending and rebootRemainingSec. Reboot Feedback Available distinguishes omitted data from a reported not-pending state. Ethernet-connected units may report Wi-Fi RSSI -127 and Wi-Fi Health bad because Wi-Fi is not linked; use PDU Online as the communication-health authority.

Polling and Failure Isolation

The shared HTTP transport serializes all requests. Commands have priority over routine polls. Duplicate status or metering polls for the same PDU are suppressed while queued. The command queue holds up to 50 requests and the polling queue holds up to 20; Queued HTTP Requests includes the active request.

Communication failures are tracked per PDU. One unavailable PDU does not stop commands or polls for the others. A successful response restores that PDU to Online. If every added PDU is disabled, the driver reports No enabled PDUs and stops scheduled polling.

Troubleshooting

HTTP 401 Unauthorized - Verify Use Credentials, username, and password. PR-S1PI intentionally sends no Authorization header.

Connection failed or timeout - Verify address, optional port, VLAN/firewall rules, DHCP reservation, and processor-to-PDU reachability.

Detected outlet count differs from configured count - Correct PDU Type and resend the project.

Toggle rejected - Wait for a successful status poll or run Refresh Status.

Panel feedback or commands fail while XP Diagnostics updates - Select the PDU activity as the room's current source and verify source-bound assignments.

Off or Toggle-to-Off rejected - The outlet is Protected.

Reboot rejected - Reboot Blocked is true because the outlet is Protected and its protected-reboot policy is Block.

PDU status is Disabled - Enable that PDU in Driver Properties and resend the project.

Wi-Fi Health is bad while control works - The PDU may be using Ethernet. Use PDU Online as communication status.

No reboot feedback - The model or firmware omitted optional reboot fields. Later outlet state can still confirm completion.

No routine TraceViewer messages - Enable Trace and resend. Enable Verbose HTTP Trace only when routine traffic is required.

Commands did not run after reconnection - Intentional; failed commands are never replayed.

Old command definitions remain after a pre-release replacement - Reassign obsolete macros and, if needed, remove and re-add the driver instance so Integration Designer rebuilds the command tree.

Developed & Supported By

Buttonwood Technologies, LLC

rti@buttonwoodtechnologies.com

https://www.buttonwoodtechnologies.com

Version History

Version 1.5

Standardized dealer documentation, Buttonwood Technologies support information, third-party driver notice and disclaimer, and product-specific power-control safety and operational warnings. Runtime communications, commands, variables, events, and PDU-control behavior are unchanged from version 1.4.

Version 1.4

- Free release with no evaluation, activation, or processor-bound license.

- Supports up to ten manually added PDU sources in one driver instance.

- Supports model-derived interfaces for PR-S1PI, PR-W3PI, PR-V7PI, and PR-R13PI.

- Adds source-preserving PDU enable/disable behavior, consolidated outlet commands, local safety policies, startup-safe state baselines, serialized request handling, bounded queues, failure isolation, build identification, and expanded diagnostics and commissioning guidance.

Product Specific Warning

This driver can interrupt electrical power to connected equipment. The dealer must verify every PDU and physical outlet assignment, protection setting, reboot policy, command, and feedback state and must provide an appropriate local recovery method before commissioning. Do not use this driver to control medical, life-safety, fire-protection, security, emergency-communication, or other equipment whose interruption could cause injury, property damage, data loss, or loss of essential service. Network feedback does not independently prove that a commanded power operation physically occurred.

Third-Party Driver Notice and Disclaimer

This driver is independently developed by Buttonwood Technologies, LLC and is not developed, endorsed, supported, or certified by the manufacturers or service providers with which it interoperates, unless expressly stated otherwise. The driver is provided “AS IS” and “WITH ALL FAULTS,” without warranties of any kind, express or implied, including warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and noninfringement. To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Buttonwood Technologies, LLC shall not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, loss of data, loss of use, service interruption, or lost profits arising from installation or use of the driver. Nothing in this notice excludes or limits liability that cannot lawfully be excluded or limited.