Lenze drives and control technology play key role in the theatre

Stephan Hckinghaus, executive partner of the company Flling & Partner says: "We use standard products because we are convinced they are the best." His company designed and built the stage machinery for the musical. They used tried-and-tested industrial technology to meet the very special requirements in this case. All the frequency inverters and servo drives come from Lenze, a partnership that goes back for decades.

How smoothly everything works every evening in the Stage Theatre is impressively demonstrated by one of the key scenes in the family drama. The background in this scene is the football pitch, which is shown on a spectacular LED wall, the largest of its kind ever built inside a theatre. Appearing to float in the air, actors pass the ball to each other against the backdrop of the 16 × 8m LED screen. Rotated by 90 degrees to a horizontal position, the players are suspended from frames developed by Flling & Partner. The audience thus have the impression of looking downwards onto the wet grass - and feel as if they are actually taking part in the nerve-wracking 3:2 win over Hungary. The frames hold the actors in their places, while moving them along programmed XY trajectories in front of the screen.

Thanks to the frames from which the actors are suspended, the end of the musical is a spectacular visual experience. Pinpointing his greatest concern, Stephan Hckinghaus says: "If the equipment breaks down at such a crucial point as this, the scene is ruined." Availability counts - and, on a scale of values, comes directly after the safety of the actors and the audience. By availability, the head of stage machinery means reliability and a long useful life. The world première of the musical "The Miracle of Bern" opened in November 2015 in the theatre that seats 1850. Stephan notes: "If a show cannot be continued, we have to send 1850 people back home." However, in 30 years of being involved in shows presented on stage, he has only experienced such a serious breakdown once.

Frank Schrlkamp, Technical Manager at the Theatre says: "We are always thinking about where bottlenecks could occur that would have critical effects in the event of a serious fault. Technicians as well as actors prepare for plan B as well as for the normal show." The servo drives are adapted by means of a plug-in memory module, which can be simply unplugged from an old controller and then plugged into the new one. Optional safety modules meeting safety level PLe can also be plugged-in. The whole thing is mounted to a pre-wired backplane which carries a DC bus connection. The drive is inserted into the backplane and locked in place with a lever. Frank adds: "This can be done very quickly and, what's most important, we can do it ourselves."

Every evening, "The Miracle of Bern" in Hamburg demonstrates the importance of sophisticated stage machinery with a perfectly coordinated automation system. Lenze drive systems and control technology that have proven their worth in factory automation ensure a high degree of availability and a long useful life - an important aspect that makes it possible to put on shows that thrill the audience without disruption.

For more information about drive systems and control technology from Lenze, visit the website at www.lenze.com.