ABSTRACT
The beauty of manually moving scenery is that it takes very little time to set up and minimal effort to train a crew to perform the task. The combination of machinery, electronic controls, and software used to choreograph the movement of scenery on stage is exhilarating. Once the automation backbone is in place, many machines can be commanded from a single button for intricate scenic choreography. Add sensors to the machine, an electronic controller, and a computer interface, and the brawny machine transforms into an automated mechanism capable of moving heavy loads with programmable precision. However, adding a motorized machine doesn't mean the set is automated, rather it is merely mechanized. The motor is useful brawn, but the brains are still supplied by a person controlling the speed and position of the scenery with a knob and a button. The demand for skilled automation engineers and operators is growing, and people are at the forefront.
