Customer application

Precise Control for Building Technology

The Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart uses futuristic architecture with multimedia and lighting technology to showcase 135 years of automotive and corporate history. The automation needed to be updated and modernized about ten years after the museum opened. The contract was awarded to SYS.TEC, a system integrator for building automation, and a system partner of B-CON and WAGO. The project began in 2017 and was successfully completed in 2020.

Directly in front of the factory gates in the Untertürkheim district of Stuttgart, automotive history comes to life: On 16,500 m² of exhibition space, the museum building, which opened in 2006, houses 160 automobiles and more than 1,500 exhibits. These are elaborately presented in rotating exhibitions and special shows – a challenge for the lighting and media control system. In order to modernize and update the aging LON^® lighting control system, SYS.TEC developed a custom solution based on the B-CON building management software in connection with our WAGO I/O System.

Custom Automation for a Unique Building

“With its numerous exhibitions and special shows, the Mercedes-Benz Museum requires specially tailored solutions that go far beyond the standard,” explains Alexander Großmann, one of the two managing directors of SYS.TEC and head of the project. To complete reprogram the lighting and media control system, SYS.TEC developed B-CON, a decentralized control unit.

Lighting Technology: Individual Control for Complex Scenarios

Scenario management, including visualization, was a core goal and technical challenge for the team. It allows optimal illumination and staging for all the exhibits – even with a decentralized approach, and even during ongoing presentations and events. Using Windows tablets, the elements of the lighting and presentation technology are controlled on site via the decentralized control unit and stored as a scenario in the WAGO controller. In this way, the presentation organizers can control all of the 12,400 lights separately, as well as the screens, projectors, media players etc., as needed and integrate them into presentation scenarios.

Challenges around the Clock

The coordination and execution of this large-scale project at the same time as ongoing museum operations required a high level of reliability and organizational skills from everyone involved. For example, one organizational challenge consisted in replacing and installing all the controls, interfaces and control cabinets without the museum visitors noticing anything. “One day a week the museum is closed, which helped. Otherwise, we worked in the background – and even at night if necessary,” explains Alexander Großmann.

Take a Virtual Tour Today

How about a little insight into one of our a guided tours? Come on a free virtual tour with our guide Pádraic Ó Leanacháin and discover the first levels of the Mercedes-Benz Museum. You can also discover the museum with our 360° images and get a first glimpse of the exhibition.

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Mercedes-Benz Brand Space

In the “Brand Space,” which opened in 2019, Mercedes-Benz takes its employees on a journey into the future – and presents its various corporate brands. To help this work perfectly, an LED wall with complete media technology, such as film and sound elements, can now be included in the mobile scenario management in addition to color and lighting scenes. In order to ensure stable scene control, all the old controllers had to be replaced with new WAGO controllers. Further, the numerous new interfaces had to be integrated into the WAGO system.

Text source: SYS.TEC Gebäudeautomation GmbH. & Co. KG

Project Insights from Uwe Dieter

Uwe Dieter has been working as a technical sales representative at WAGO for 23 years. For this project, he was the first contact person at WAGO for the planning office and for WAGO solution provider SYS.TEC.

Mr. Dieter: What did the project involve?

The project had to do with restructuring all the building automation. The new building mainly used LON^®. At that time, some sections already used our LON^® controllers. However, other manufacturers provided the remaining LON^® components. This technology was simply no longer up to date. For example, the components from the main manufacturer that was used are no longer available. If something breaks, it’s difficult to replace. In the current restructuring process, the flexible design of the WAGO LON^® stations that were already installed has made a good impression, since only the controller had to be replaced – the I/O level could be left in place. The planning office that designed the new automation also worked with us to develop a state-of-the-art solution based on our WAGO I/O System, which SYS.TEC then did a great job implementing.

What does automation in the museum look like today?

The automation was completely restructured to ensure that is not only is well positioned now, but also will remain so in the future. The museum is now equipped with our WAGO I/O System, which boasts great flexibility. Thanks to its variable structure, we can respond to modifications very well. At the same time, it was also important for us to be able to implement the current functionality easily. The devices and conditions were already in place – only the automation was updated and had to adapt to the existing devices with their set outputs. Our flexible I/O system was ideal for this purpose.

What would be your summary of this project?

The entire execution of the project, despite many challenges, went very well. That was definitely thanks to SYS.TEC, a WAGO Solution Provider – since they’re very familiar with our products and solutions, everyone knew exactly what they were doing. The entire restructuring process was implemented during ongoing operations – after hours and on weekends – and the technology always had to be up and running in time to open in the morning. This demanded a lot from everyone involved, but thanks our long-standing cooperation, it all went very smoothly.

Product Overview

WAGO I/O System 750/753

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Controllers 750

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