ABSTRACT
When we design a control system-or part of one, we have to make some decisions about how the system should work based on what exactly we are controlling, what we want the system to do, and some basic characteristics of the system’s application. For many years, live entertainment control system technology lagged about ten years behind the technology found in betterfunded industries. In those days, control methods that seemed new to us had actually been used extensively in other industries for many years, and so our job was to simply learn the parts of those technologies applicable to our applications. However, with the explosion of sophisticated and affordable networking technology, our industry has caught up, and is even leading the way in some areas. Even so, many of the basics in this chapter aren’t widely taught or understood by many in our industry, so it’s important to get many of these concepts clearly defined before moving on to various entertainment disciplines and then data communications.
One note before continuing: In this section, I present a series of control concepts, and I often present them in an either/or, black/white way. In reality, of course, the distinctions may not be so clear cut, and may be in varying shades of grey. However, I’ve found that the sharp distinctions are very helpful in understanding these abstract concepts. I leave it to you to figure out the shades of grey relevant to your situation.
