Automated Performer Flying: The State of the Art shares the secrets of performer flying in entertainment history and provides step-by-step instructions on how to create a performer flying effect from scratch. This book sheds light on all aspects of performer flying, covering its history, explaining concepts like mechanical compensation versus electrical compensation, providing guidance on how to calculate stopping distances and forces, and sharing tips on how to build successful relationships with performers. Case studies of prominent productions featuring performer flying, including Cirque du Soleil and Beyoncé, are included throughout. Written for technical directors, theatrical riggers, and students of rigging, technical direction, and stagecraft courses, Automated Performer Flying takes readers through the process of creating a performer flying effect from the first spark of the idea to opening night.

Scenic automation has earned a reputation of being complicated and cantankerous, a craft best left to the elite of our 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 the 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 makes 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!

Proceedings of the 10th International Conference on Human Interaction and Emerging Technologies, IHIET 2023, August 22-24, 2023, Université Côte d'Azur, Nice, France.

From the basics of physical forces and mathematical formulas to performer flying and stage automation, Entertainment Rigging for the 21st Century provides you with insider information into rigging systems and the skills you need to safely operate them. Over the past decade, the entertainment industry has witnessed major changes in rigging technology, as manually operated rigging has given way to motorized systems in both permanent and touring productions, and greater attention has been paid to standardizing safety practices. This book leads you through what is currently happening in the industry, why it’s happening, and how. Accessible for riggers and non-riggers alike, it contains details on the technology and methodology used to achieve the startling effects found in concerts and stage shows. With a foreword written by Monona Rossol, this text contains contributions from industry leaders including: Rocky Paulson Bill Gorlin Tray Allen Roy Bickel Keith Bohn Karen Butler Stuart Cox Bill Sapsis Dan Culhane Eddie Raymond Chris Higgs Carla Richters Joe McGeough Scott Fisher

The Art of Stagecraft: Reflections on Design and Creation in Theatre is a thoughtful examination of the intersection of design, art, and the modern and contemporary theatrical design practitioner. Utilizing a recently discovered folio of materials of stagecraft practices that was being compiled by Mobile, Alabama artist Edmond Carl deCelle, who was nationally known for his sketches, paintings, murals, Mardi Gras pageants and parades, and theatre productions along the Gulf Coast in the years 1930–1970, the book examines methodologies of production using sketches from the artist as well as his thoughts on design, art, and the shifts that were happening in the industry during the time. The book looks at a sampling of traditional theatrical design and stagecraft practices that became formalized in the mid-20th century and compares them to contemporary practices, offering a reflection on the current state of theatre production, stagecraft practices, and the theatre practitioner as an artist. For those just coming into theatre production, The Art of Stagecraft provides a resource for a selection of well-proven, straightforward techniques that have been developed over many years. For those in theatre production, the book serves as a guide for an assortment of traditional techniques that are still in use today but may not be known by everyone. For all readers, this book will also look at a sample of traditional techniques that have been phased out in favor of contemporary methods due to the development of modern materials.

The increasing complexity and automation of flight control systems pose a challenge to federal policy regarding aircraft certification and pilot training. Despite significant commercial aviation safety improvements over the past two decades, flight control automation and aircraft complexity have been cited as contributing factors in a number of major airline accidents, including two high-profile crashes overseas involving the recently introduced Boeing 737 Max variant in 2018 and 2019. These crashes have directed attention to Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) oversight of aircraft type certification and pilot training practices for transport category aircraft, particularly as they pertain to complex automated flight control systems. As aircraft systems have evolved over the past three decades to incorporate new technologies, Congress has mandated FAA to streamline certification processes, with the primary motivation being to facilitate the development of new safety-enhancing technologies. Modern commercial aircraft rely on "fly-by-wire" flight control technologies, under which pilots' flight control inputs are sent to computers rather than through direct mechanical linkages to flight control systems. The fly-by-wire software contains flight control laws and logic that, in addition to optimizing performance efficiency, protect the aircraft from commanded actions that could put the airplane in an unsafe state. Automated flight control systems have largely been viewed as having a positive effect on safety, and accident rates have improved considerably over the past two decades. However, the increasing complexity of automated flight systems has sometimes caused confusion and uncertainty, contributing to improper pilot actions during critical phases of flight and in some cases leading pilots to unintentionally place an aircraft in an unsafe condition. Besides designing these systems in a manner that minimizes pilot errors and the consequences of those errors, aircraft designers and operators face challenges regarding maintaining piloting skills for flight crews to be able to take over and manually fly the aircraft safely if critical systems fail. They also face challenges regarding documentation and pilot training effectiveness in building accurate mental models of how these complex systems operate. The primary goals of ongoing efforts to address these challenges are to enhance pilot situation awareness when using automation and reduce the likelihood of mode errors and confusion, while at the same time not overburdening pilots with intricate systems knowledge beyond what is necessary. In the ongoing investigations of two Boeing 737 Max crashes, Lion Air flight 610 and Ethiopian Airlines flight 302, concerns have been raised about the design of an automated feature called the Maneuvering Characteristics Augmentation System (MCAS) and its reliance on a single angle-of-attack sensor even though the aircraft is equipped with two such sensors. These concerns led to the worldwide grounding of all Boeing 737 Max aircraft until the MCAS safety concerns can be resolved, significantly impacting both U.S. and foreign airlines that operate the aircraft. These recent aviation accidents have prompted reviews of the manner in which modern transport category aircraft are certified by FAA and its foreign counterparts, and in particular, the roles of regulators and manufacturers in the certification process. The challenges of certifying increasingly complex aircraft are largely being met by delegating more of FAA's certification functions to aircraft designers and manufacturers. This raises potential conflicts between safety and quality assurance on the one hand and competitive pressures to market and deliver aircraft on the other. Under Organization Designation Authorization (ODA), FAA can designate companies to carry out delegated certification functions on its behalf.