Review of the L4 ACS controller from Legos.

Review of the L4 ACS controller by Legos.

Review of the L4 ACS controller by Legos.

The equipment set provided for testing by the regional representative office of «Legos» consisted of the following separately supplied:

«L4» controller (support for up to 16,000 users)

«PLR2EH» readers – 2 pcs.

USB converter «CLU EH» (with a built-in access card reader for adding them to the database)

Software version «Lux»

Also found in our warehouse, participated in the tests:
1. Uninterruptible power supply «SKAT-1200KR» with 7 A/h battery (as a power supply)
2. Electromagnetic lock «AL-200» (with built-in «reed switch» — to control the passage of the door)
3. «Exit» button
4. Entry request button — hereinafter we will call it the «Entry» button
5. Proxy card reader «Matrix-II»
6. Piezoelectric siren type «Svirel» powered by a 12 volt source
7. A set of wearable alarm radio fobs (for remote door opening)

The L4 controller, unlike its younger sibling, the L3, is designed only for ACS systems.

We were provided with the L4D16 controller for testing, designed to organize control of a door-type entry point. It comes in a plastic case for mounting directly on a wall.

The controller does not use addressable microchips in its work (unlike the «L3») — all devices are connected to it directly. On board there are 2 relays — one for controlling the lock, one for controlling any other device (for example, a siren to notify about an attempt to break into the door when the «reed switch» is included in the system). Also on the front panel there are 3 LEDs — two for monitoring data exchange and one for monitoring the presence of power.

Let's start in order — by reading the instructions. Considering the previous experience of testing «Legos» equipment, I expected «surprises» — but no, the available «manuals» (an album of «Legos» equipment connection diagrams, a standard instruction manual for the controller, a separate instruction manual for the controller downloaded from the manufacturer's website) do not contradict each other at first glance. Which could not but encourage and set us in a working mood.

Let's start assembling the test «stand» — this time we decided not to leave the «assembly» on the table, but immediately after testing to start it in «combat mode», installing it on one of the doors of our office. But more about that later.

So, we assemble the «passage point» according to the scheme «entry by card — exit by button — request to enter without a card». For this, we use 1 reader «PLR2EH», the «Exit» button, the «Entry» button, the «AL-200» lock, and a siren.

Assembly did not cause any problems — as noted in the previous review, «Legos» uses very convenient terminal blocks in its equipment, allowing you to «press» the connected wires well (including fairly thick «bundles»). The location of the terminals also turned out to be quite convenient. The only question that arose during assembly was the indication in the instructions for the reader that when directly (without using a format converter) connected to the «L4» and «L5» controllers, for normal operation of the LEDs and «beeper», you need to cut the control jumper.

For obvious reasons, I did not do this — the equipment is under warranty. Therefore, the «combat assembly» of the system was tested using the «Matrix-II» reader — after all, if we «burn» during the experiments, it's not a pity to lose our own.

The controller provides for the connection of two «reed switches» — one to control passage through the «point», the second (for example, when connecting a photocell system) — to control the number of people who passed through using one card (at sites with paid access this can be useful — as a means of tracking «freeloaders»). Since we use only one «reed switch», we short-circuit the terminals of the second one with a wire jumper.

We connect the «-» of the siren and the «-» of the power source to the normally open terminals of the second relay («CK2» — «NO2»), «+» sirens — directly.

We connect the lock according to the diagram «GND control», i.e. «+» directly, and «-» to the terminals «CK1» and «NO1», connecting «NO1» with a jumper to «GND».

I won't describe connecting the rest of the system elements — everything is simple and straightforward.

Having finished with the «hardware», we move on to the «software».
The provided version of the software «Lux» supports up to 32 controllers, the user database size is up to 3000 cards. The software also includes a license for a remote workstation. The installation went without any issues. The only thing you need to remember when installing this version is that first you install «MSDE» supplied on the same disk, then the server part of the software «Legos». If this order is violated, the system will not work.

I will immediately make a reservation that in this article I will not consider such a function as creating reports — this issue was considered earlier, and, as practice has shown, «software» successfully copes with this task, especially since it is possible to edit report forms to your taste.

It's time to connect the components together. We connect the «stand» to the computer via a converter, launch the «Legos» console. In the console, we launch automatic device detection, and the program quickly finds the controller. Setting up the controller itself and its functions does not take much time.

Next, we move on to creating a user database. In our case, 15 people participated in the test (mainly employees of our department), for whom the access level «Door Passage» was created with 3 schedules (24/7, during the working day 5 days a week, daily with 3-hour intervals in the morning and afternoon 7 days a week). We also added photos of employees to test the «Photo ID» function (we will consider it later, but I will say right away that it can be useful for security posts).

To ensure the operation of the «Entrance» button, we create global reactions under the conditional names «request» and «access».

 The «request» response to pressing the «Entry» button closes the normally open contacts of relay No. 2, turning on the siren.
The «Access» reaction when pressing the «Exit» button, pressing the radio key fob button (don't forget — we included a radio channel panic button in the system as a remote «door opener») or placing a card on the reader turns off the siren.

During the testing of these reactions, one point became clear — the reactions do not have a duration timer. That is, if there is no one in the room and there is no one to open the door, then after pressing the «Entrance» button, the siren will «squeal», as they say, until the second coming. It would seem that this is not so critical, but if your office is adjacent to others whose working hours (or breaks) differ from yours, or, as in our case, the other premises of the office are occupied by emergency services with a round-the-clock mode of operation — no one will thank you in the morning. A way out of this situation was found quickly — the siren was connected to a power source through the «Entrance» button, disconnecting them from the controller, i.e. a banal doorbell was made.

Having launched the system in «combat mode», we immediately encountered the problem described earlier in the review of the «L3» controller — when the reader applies a card and unlocks the lock, it gives a short sound signal, by which (as practice has shown) not all those who come can understand that the card has been accepted and the door is open for passage (if your employees can be trained to such a reaction quite quickly, then users with a «guest» card — it is unlikely).

Also, the LED indication was somewhat misleading for users — in standby mode, there is a flashing «red-green», in «passage prohibition» mode — «green», in «access» mode — «red» (and since school we were taught that you can't go on «red»), despite the fact that the connection of the corresponding terminals of the reader and controller «LR» (red LED) and «LG» (green LED) is made correctly.

The problem was solved as follows:
• the LED connections were swapped (LR reader to LG controller, LG reader to LR controller)
• the reader's beeper (brown wire in the photo) was connected to the CK1 contact of the lock control relay.

As a result of this «shamanism», the LEDs started working in the following modes:
• «on duty» — «green-red» (as a result of mixing the colors, the result was not red, but yellowish),
• «no entry» — «red»,
• «access» — «green».

The reader's «beeper» was turned on for the duration of the lock controller's opening (in our case, for 5 seconds), and stopped working when the door was physically opened or after the lock opening time had expired (if the passage was refused). Users rated …
As a test, the controller's «Photo ID» function was activated. Its essence is that when the card is applied, the console displays a pop-up window that displays the owner's data, his photo and possible actions of the operator (security guard) — to open the door or not. Access to the premises in this mode is granted by the operator. For certain categories of premises, this function can be very useful, but we considered it only for informational purposes.

This system was in operation for 10 days. During this time, one issue was revealed that neither I nor the representatives of «Legos» could explain. When trying to enter using a card or exit the premises by pressing the «Exit» button, the controller opens the door with a delay of about 0.5 — 1 second (in particular, the button must be held down for up to 1 second). The «Z5R» controller installed on another door in our office opens the door instantly in both passage options. It was not possible to obtain a clear answer as to whether this is due to the use of a reader from another manufacturer or some other reason. In principle, the delay is not that great, but the fact remains — the cheaper «Z5R» controller reacts to events faster.During operation, about 2000 events have accumulated in the database. Despite the fairly large volume of data, when viewing the program opened the protocol fairly quickly and without failures, unlike the previously reviewed version «Economy». Also, to facilitate viewing the protocol, there is the ability to configure event filters (during testing, I disabled the display of the «Exit Button» event), which saves time on opening the protocol.

During the entire testing period, the controller did not fail at all, which was a pleasant surprise. Of course, the testing period was short, and for the «emergency» power supply shutdown of the controller, we provided a «secret» switch outside the controlled room (you never know) — nevertheless, «L4» worked at least «well» during this time.
Unfortunately, it was not possible to test the operation of the controller with a reader from the same manufacturer — I explained the reason above, but, in my opinion, this did not greatly affect the test results.

Let's summarize.

The positive aspects of the tested equipment set undoubtedly include:
• good design of the controller
• availability of instructions and their compliance with reality (believe me, it is not for nothing that I focus on this point — I had to deal with something else)
• stable operation of the ARM «Legos» in the presented version «Lux»
• ability to flexibly configure access levels and schedules
• visualization and control of events in the ARM

We will include the following as controversial points:
• long controller response time to events related to passing through the access point – together with the manufacturer’s specialists, we were unable to come to a clear conclusion about the reason. You can get used to it, but you can’t take words out of a song.
• the need to reconnect the LED control lines when using readers that do not have the function of changing the LED control mode (jumpers or jumpers) – although this is a matter of taste …

Among the negative aspects, we note:
• the absence of reaction duration timers in the software (in some cases, it may simply not be possible to design a reaction to cancel a previously launched reaction or to launch a previously cancelled one — the problem will have to be solved at the hardware level)
• a short-term sound indication of the reader in accordance with the controller's reaction to the event and, as a consequence, the need to find non-standard workarounds for this problem.

The cost of the kit for organizing «from scratch» 1 entry point based on the «L4» controller, similar to the one under test:
• Controller — 5277 rubles.
• Reader «PLR2EH» — 3193 rubles.
• USB converter «CLU EH» — 4347 rubles.
• Power supply type «SKAT» with battery — 2500 rubles.
• Electromagnetic lock «AL-200» — 4000 rub.
• Buttons, wires, cable, consumables — about 500 rub.