iLight intelligent dimming system controls light show at Mallorcan attraction 
(30/11/2007)
The House of Katmandu is an interactive adventure-style attraction in the centre of Magalluf, which takes the form of a 1600 m2 'upside down' Tibetan-style mansion. iLight's intelligent lighting control products are at the heart this new visitor attraction on the Spanish island of Mallorca.
The control of lighting and other systems including animatronics was the responsibility of Technovations, an Essex based technical design company that creatively uses sound and light to provide fully choreographed and controlled features to museums, exhibitions and theme parks.
"This type of job with substantial lighting dimming isn't exactly unique these days," said Technovations director Graham Owens, "but the way we went about it was probably a little unconventional."
The usual approach would have been to use a show control system, which could be anything from a simple DMX replay unit to a sophisticated multitasking system. This would normally control simple dumb dimmers, invariably from the theatre world and other interfacing devices. Alternatively, it could have a number of smaller systems all running independently.
Technovations decided to adopt a different approach and use an intelligent dimming system from iLight. Their work in the high end residential bespoke arena has led to Technovations having a good in house knowledge of the sequence and scripting capabilities of the iLight protocol. This enabled them to write the large number of control sequences required, all of which could run independently with commands interlaced.
The lighting changes specified varied from simple scene control in the main lobby and bar through to complex sequences choreographed to sound, video and animation, and triggered by timed events, buttons and sensors.
Lighting control was required for both themed lighting and work lights, and needed to interface with the fire alarm system. If an alarm is triggered or during an emergency, the dimmers resort to a preprogrammed event. The system also had to control show power sockets for animations, turntables, AV equipment etc.
Local regulations dictated a system with two-pole disconnect protection on all outgoing circuits. Fortunately iLight offer this, otherwise a custom solution would have been required.
Because of the number of sequences and the frequency of the commands being sent, Technovations decided to install four subnetworks. The iLight programmable bridge still allows commands to be sent globally to control certain sequences and house keeping commands. "I'm not sure if iLight is unique in its ability to do this, but I'm sure glad in can do it," noted Graham.
In all, the attraction consists of 14 interior areas, plus six exterior areas and some individual control areas. The iLight system controls motors, video, audio, architectural lighting, theatrical lighting, DMX fittings, smoke machines, animatronics, subcontrol systems and fans, to name but a few.
iLight equipment used in the project includes a large touch-screen for the main control system and a button panel for managing the show from the lobby and some more immediate commands, as well as two dozen 12-channel 5A dimmers and countless 12-channel 10A contactors.
An astronomical time clock provides various timed functions, such as work lighting for cleaners, different scenes for lobby and bar, setting outside audio level according to the time of day, and turning on and off outside lighting. Relay interfaces, DMX controllers and 0-10V devices provide an array of IO, and finally the network bridges segregate the busy subnets.
Despite its overseas location, the installation can be accessed remotely by Technovations when modifications are required or to address any problems, via the Ethernet Gateway.
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