WIcreations have designed, developed and installed a unique, wireless laser-guided system to move eight large seating tribunes holding audiences who were watching Studio 100’s 40-45 Spektakle Musical around the performance space.
The production was directed by Frank Van Laecke and the automation concept that moved the audience into multiple positions throughout the two-hour show, is right at the heart of this theatrical tour de force, staged in a purpose-built venue – The Studio 100 Pop-Up Theatre – in Puurs, Belgium. Each stand was 8-metres high, 8-metres wide, weighed 28-tonnes when empty, and held 209 people when full. Constructed by WIcreations, each tribune contained around 14,000 parts, the majority of which were custom machined.
The tribunes moved together or individually throughout the venue in every direction sometimes with as little as 20-cm between them. This was accomplished by using 4 custom built 11-tonne electric motor drive units. Each stand’s movement was based on a 43-tonne weight loading, allowing for the extensive metalwork involved in the stands themselves, plus 75kg per person when fully loaded. The challenge was to ensure that the 11-tonne drive units were silent whilst moving, a goal achieved by WI after researching and developing the stands to ensure they glided effortlessly across the floor, choreographed to the show’s narrative. Each stand had 48 industrial grade wheels, with hydraulic suspension on the wheelbases to equalise and balance the weight on each wheel and keep the movement smooth as the tribune was rolling over the floor.
Battery packs were added to each stand to power the lighting elements, the RF headsets -so the audience could hear the audio- and WIFI routers which allowed the laser positioning system and the RF headsets to function totally wirelessly. The lasers on the stands provided information on positioning which was sent to a control cabinet located on the stand. A control desk sent messages to the control cabinet for each move via WIFI, to adjust their positions and angles relative to 26 main reflectors installed, this allowed the stands to navigate their way around.
In addition to the stands, WI technology was applied to move eight LED screen trucks and two scenery wagons. The LED video screens were rigged on carts constructed by WI which included a hanging structure. They weighed about 4 tonnes each and were moved using the same wireless laser guidance system as the seating stands. The screen trucks were physically moved by two battery-powered drive units from WI which have been in operation for several years so were updated for this production.
At the core of the movement control system were customised controllers which were programmed and run by Jasper Cosemans, a member of the automation crew at the Pop-Up Theatre. One motion console dealt with the 32 drive units moving the stands, while a second was controlling the video screens and scenery wagons. The two systems were linked through newly developed software giving the operators an onscreen map of the whole space and the dynamic locations of all the moving pieces.
Sightlines were a primary consideration, both for the audience and alignment to the laser reflectors, all the moves were thought out and plotted according to the cues and timings, and their positions at the time. As the automation control room is not in the theatre itself, each stand has a human spotter deployed to keep an eye on the moves.
“It’s been a fantastic experience for us working on this production and designing the tribunes, video and deco wagons. Programming all of them together safety was the biggest challenge,” CEO of WIcreations, Hans Willems concluded: “Understanding how to safely move large numbers of the public around a show-space.”