Cost-effective PLC+HMI creates new opportunities for theatre

The Eagle Theatre in Hammonton, New Jersey is South Jersey's only year-round professional Equity theatre, dedicated to bringing great theatre to the region and also to innovating within its productions.

To achieve those goals, the theatre decided to add moving elements to its sets for one of the productions; three screens were required to lower at a consistent speed but at different times. The team at the Eagle Theatre initially tried to use electric winch packages, but these were slow and too noisy to use during a performance. With only one week until the show opened, the theatre contacted Bayview Bearing and Supply, a Unitronics distributor, for help.

Bayview Bearing was able to solve these issues by implementing a Samba all-in-one PLC with integral 3.5inch colour touchscreen HMI and I/O. They worked with Jared Smith, a contractor with Deerfield Electric, who built the panel and installed the unit. The Samba controlled Vacon 20 VFDs (variable-frequency drives) and World Wide Electric Gear Motors in order to move the set pieces. Each of the moving pieces was assigned a virtual button on the Samba; these buttons raised and lowered the screens, as well as displaying their current positions.

Not only did the new system work beautifully, but Bayview Bearing was also able to get it up and running with enough time for rehearsals before the show opened.

This particular performance was a success thanks to the Samba, and working with PLC control has created new opportunities for the Eagle Theatre moving forward. Ted Wioncek III, Co-Artistic Director at the theatre, explains: "Motion control with Unitronics PLCs has allowed us the freedom to reach for new heights of visceral creativity while expanding our technical innovation in a fast and cost-effective manner."

In fact the Eagle Theatre has already expanded the motion control application in other shows. For one production the entire set shifted constantly, with the walls coming in and out independently of each other. A major theme of the show was misdirection, so the moving set was used to reinforce that theme in the physical space with which the character interacted. As Ryan Mayer of Bayview Bearing explains, this is not a typical motion control application: "This is automation technology meeting the art community and producing fantastic results."

Follow the link for more information about the compact, versatile and cost-effective Unitronics Samba PLC+HMI.