Automation specialists Kinesys once again exhibit at the PLASA show in September.

The past twelve months has seen further growth into an increasingly varied selection of projects and markets requesting Kinesys products. High profile touring artists using Kinesys systems have included Genesis, The Killers, Keane, Snow Patrol, The Arctic Monkeys, Lionel Richie, Kylie and many more. Installations have included the Royal Albert Hall with over one hundred channels of positioning chain hoist control.

Highlighted at PLASA 07 are two newly launched hoist control products – Smart 8 and Sentinel - along with other innovations including Kinesys’ innovative K2 control software.

Smart 8

The Smart 8 expands on Kinesys’ existing Power 8 product and offers full positioning facilities built into a standard hoist controller.

Smart 8 allows fixed speed encoded hoists to be programmed and controlled from a single unit, offering cost savings over the traditional approach of a combination of separate motor controllers and a position controller. Additionally, flexibility is maximised as the Smart 8 can be located near the motors it is controlling and doesn’t need to be operated from a central location.

The Smart 8 comes in low voltage and direct control versions and accepts both traditional pulse encoders and the more precise incremental encoders.

Cues can be programmed directly into the Smart 8 using its large graphical LCD display and intuitive jog wheel interface, or can be downloaded from Kinesys’ K2 or Vector software packages. Once programmed, cues can be triggered either from the controller, from another connected unit or via DMX.

Sentinel

Sentinel is a range of fully BGV C1 compliant controllers designed to work with CM Lodestar BGV C1 chain hoists.

The Sentinel range has been developed from the ground up to be fully compliant with the BGV C1 specification for chain hoists. The unit is designed for use with the BGV C1 compliant variants of CM Lodestar motors which offer users a wide variety of lifting weights and speeds.

On display at the show will be the Sentinel 8-M, the 8-channel manual control entry level unit.

Also available are units offering full positioning capabilities and high resolution load feedback – so operators can see exactly which loads are applied to each hoist in real-time. All controllers can be connected together for use in larger systems. They can be operated either from their front panel controls, from a remote ‘go’ button or via a handheld pendant with an intuitive graphical user interface and full motor feedback.

K2

Central to the stand will be K2, Kinesys’ 3D motion control programming and playback system. This powerful programme offers unparalleled versatility to show programmers/designers, allowing complex cues to be programmed and played back visually on screen - for instant feedback. The ability to work with the flying pieces directly and not the individual motors and winches makes the system very intuitive and easy to use.

Also :

Elevation Beam Trolley system

This is a perfect compliment to Kinesys’ renowned Elevation Chain Hoist system, and literally adds a new dimension to the Elevation range. As with the chain hoist systems, the beam trolley is based around a standard ‘off the shelf’ motorised trolley offering easy access to spare parts and matching ‘slave’ trolleys.

Similar to the hoist conversion, a simple electrical modification allows the trolley to be plugged into the ubiquitous Kinesys Elevation 1+ controller, providing variable speed control and positioning of the trolley. The same Elevation 1+ controller can be used for both trolleys and a whole range of hoists making it easily the most flexible system currently available.