Scenic Automation Handbook from Focal Press dispels the myth that scenic automation is complicated and cantankerous, and a craft best left to the elite of the industry. Not sure of the difference between a VFD, PLC, or PID? If you have dreamed of choreographing scene changes with computerized machinery, but get lost in technical jargon, the Scenic Automation Handbook will guide you along the road to elegant automation. Adopting a pragmatic approach, this book breaks down any automation system into five points, known as the Pentagon of Power. Breaking down a dauntingly complex system into bite-size pieces make it easy to understand how components function, connect, and communicate to form a complete system.
Presenting the fundamental behaviors and functions of Machinery, Feedback Sensors, Amplifiers, Controls, and Operator Interfaces, the Scenic Automation Handbook demystifies automation, reinforcing each concept with practical examples that can be used for experimentation. Automation is accessible, come along and learn how!
- Moving Stuff on Stage
- Pentagon of Power: Breaking up Automation into 5 Parts
- Meet the Machines - A Survey of Common Theatrical Machines
- Motivating a Machine
- Powering Motors and Actuators
- Sensing and Measuring Motion
- Simple Control
- Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC's)
- Motion Control with a PID Loop
- Safety
- Operator Interface
- NetworksIntegrating with other Systems
- Implementation
- Resource for Learning More
