machineGroupControl/examples

machineGroupControl - Example Flows

Import-ready Node-RED examples for machineGroupControl (MGC). MGC is not a standalone node — it needs at least one rotatingMachine child to dispatch demand to. Both flows below ship three child pumps.

Files

File	Tier	What it shows
01-Basic.json	1	One MGC + three rotatingMachine pumps driven by inject buttons. Setup once-fires virtualControl + cmd.startup on all three pumps; mode / scaling / demand are then driven by buttons.
02-Dashboard.json	2	Same command surface driven by a FlowFuse Dashboard 2.0 page — mode + scaling buttons, demand slider, live status rows, three trend charts, and a raw-output table.

Prerequisites

• Node-RED with the EVOLV package installed (machineGroupControl and rotatingMachine registered).
• For 02-Dashboard.json: @flowfuse/node-red-dashboard (Dashboard 2.0).

Load a flow

curl -X POST -H 'Content-Type: application/json' \
  --data @nodes/machineGroupControl/examples/01-Basic.json \
  http://localhost:1880/flows

Or in the editor: Menu → Import → drag the file → Import.

Canonical command surface

Topic	Aliases	Payload	What it does
set.mode	setMode	"optimalControl", "priorityControl", "prioritypercentagecontrol", "maintenance"	Switch dispatch strategy
set.scaling	setScaling	"normalized", "absolute"	Interpret demand as 0–100 % vs m³/h
set.demand	Qd	number	Operator demand setpoint
child.register	registerChild	child node id (string)	Manually register a child (Port 2 wiring does this automatically)

01-Basic — what to try

1. Deploy. After ~1.5 s the Setup group auto-fires, putting all three pumps in virtualControl mode + sending cmd.startup to each.
2. Click set.demand = 50 % — MGC's optimalControl picks the best pump combination by BEP-gravitation and dispatches flowmovement to the selected pumps.
3. Click set.demand = 100 % — MGC switches to a higher combination, possibly engaging an extra pump.
4. Switch mode to priorityControl and try the same demands — pumps now run equal-flow by priority order.
5. Switch scaling to absolute — set.demand is now interpreted as m³/h (capped at the group min / max).
6. set.demand = 0 — MGC calls turnOffAllMachines, all pumps shut down.

02-Dashboard — what to try

1. Deploy → open http://localhost:1880/dashboard/mgc-basic.
2. The dashboard auto-initialises the pumps; the Initialize pumps button on the page re-runs the setup manually.
3. Drag the Demand slider — MGC dispatches and the Flow / Power / BEP charts react.
4. Switch modes and scalings via the buttons; the Mode / Scaling rows in the Status panel reflect the change.
5. Inspect the Raw output table for the full Port 0 surface (every field MGC emits, including flowCapacityMax, machineCountActive, absDistFromPeak, relDistFromPeak).