Automated Door

[Gwion]

I think what I'll do is employ a 5 year old, or a 75 year old to sit backstage and open the door on cue.

Can anyone suggest a non lethal electrical charge I could administer so the cues aren't missed?!!?

 

I think this is what you need. May be a bit OTT for a 5-year old, but should be perfect for a 75-year old.

 

 

BRILLIANT - Exactly the thing!!!

[Jivemaster]

Modern door furniture has detectors to prevent the doors smacking open into people.

 

What about a floor pressure pad that senses people in the right place to pass through the door. Avoids doors opening every time the PIR sees a person on stage. Once you have the door motor you can get pressure pads, push switches etc

 

For an artiste to exit when the room is in music mode a pressure switch should be within their ability. Getting a PIR to detect ONLY in the required area could be a challenge.

 

YB91Y Std Pressure Mat £5.99 -- Maplin.co.uk There are plenty of other suppliers too. I used to work in a darkroom where the entrance doors were interlinked motorised doors controlled by three pads like these, and it worked fine til flooded! when we had to buy new pads!

[blackbird]

Is a door handle out of the question?!

[themadhippy]

wht not hang masking behind the door?

[thisismichael]

It was to my understanding that the DMX protocol states that DMX should not be used for purposes such as this as "DMX512 is unidirectional and does not include automatic error checking and correction, so it is not safe to use for applications involving life safety".

[ceejm1]

http://www.wahlberg.dk/motion/actuator.htm

[IRW]

It was to my understanding that the DMX protocol states that DMX should not be used for purposes such as this as "DMX512 is unidirectional and does not include automatic error checking and correction, so it is not safe to use for applications involving life safety".

 

Imagine the headlines... "{Insert classical musician here} killed by Dodgy DMX Door!"

 

What you say is true, however if you used the aforementioned pressure mats or sensors to check where people are standing (and if the door's path is clear) and then to fire a relay to the door's power supply, then you have a secondary system in place to ensure the door does not open when it is not supposed to- rather like the dead man's handle/switch found in some pyrotechnic applications.

[LXbydesign]

I have asked a similar thing before and been advised that it is dangerous and not a good idea to have any form of automation controlled by DMX - even a door!!

 

sure it can be on a motor!! - put a 2-way control ether side of the door - and even then a performer can just punch the button to make the door open

[Seano]

I have asked a similar thing before and been advised that it is dangerous and not a good idea to have any form of automation controlled by DMX - even a door!!

 

Nor should any form of automation be controlled by a pressure pad or a PIR detector without some form of additional error checking. But millions of powered doors are the world over, without problems. It depends what you mean by 'automation' - a stage revolve or a hydraulic lift are, a floor mounted Mac 250 presumably isn't. Somewhere between the two bits of machinery is a boundary between what is acceptable to control via DMX and what isn't. Its down to (surprise) a process of risk assessment - how likely is the door to injure someone if it opens/shuts spontaneously at just the wrong moment?