The biggest problem is that *anything* can be seen as something useful to a terrorist by those who are paranoid and see phantom menaces everywhere or are motivated to see things that way. There seems to be a widespread inability to distinguish "risk" from "threat" these days and that often appears to be deliberately encouraged for political purposes.
I don't know how it is in the US or elsewhere but I have encountered quite a few people who are of the opinion that "if it saves just one life, banning it is worthwhile". A patently nonsense idea as if we all really believed that we'd ultimately ban everything but when it takes grip and gets a critical mass of public support it can have a major impact on people who do nothing wrong.
With the draconian and wide-sweeping legislation there is in the UK I wouldn't dare discuss pyrotechnics (fireworks) in a public forum and certainly not their electronic ignition systems any more.
While seeing things like the Propeller used as Hollywood props can worry those of us who can identify them, reality is that most people will see it as 'generic electronics'. While that can lead to paranoia in general over such devices, it should not really impact on any particular product unless someone makes it their particular hobby horse to bring that about.
sylvie369 - You asked if you were the only Prophead with a low explosives users permit. I have an ATF High Explosives Manufacturer license (Type 20). Does that count? My current Prop project is a Midi enabled pyrotechnic firing system.
Pyrotom said...
sylvie369 - You asked if you were the only Prophead with a low explosives users permit. I have an ATF High Explosives Manufacturer license (Type 20). Does that count? My current Prop project is a Midi enabled pyrotechnic firing system.
mirror said...
Bomb object almost ready to submit to object exchange!
It drives a standard countdown timer display so you know how long you've got until you need to get away.
Detailed instructions included for the red wire / blue wire hookup. Cutting the red wire causes instant chaos. Cutting the blue wire restores peace and tranquility. Or was it the other way around.
It still has one bug. The count always seems to stop at 0:00:01.
No - stage pyro (for that matter any indoor pyro) involves way too much red tape. I do outdoor shows, and wanted a system that would let me do better choreography for my shows. Take a look at my friend's show from last year's PGI convention for an idea of what I'm aiming at. www.youtube.com/watch?v=uy4XcjzgA2w He shot that show using my older manual system, so the timing in it is purely him hitting switches very accurately.
Being able to anticipate the delay between launch and detonation by hand seems almost impossible — especially when ground and aerial detonations are mixed in such complex choreography. Doing it with a MIDI-enabled Prop instead is a natural!
You do realize that you're actually living the childhood dream of everyone here, don't you?
Phil said...
You do realize that you're actually living the childhood dream of everyone here, don't you?
This reminds me of my favorite pyro joke:
A father and son go to see a large and impressive fireworks show. After the show the son says "Dad, when I grow up I want to be a pyrotechnician!" The father considers this for a moment and replies "Son, I'm afraid you can't do both"
So for those of you who never grew up, go to www.pgi.org and join the Pyrotechnics Guild International and then come join us next August in Mason City, Iowa for our convention. I'll be there with my Prop based firing system, and you'll get to see fireworks that you'll never see anywhere else! Just because it was a childhood dream doesn't mean it can't still come true...
Accepted evanh. It was a bit rash but it's easy to do in a forum.
Pyrotom said...
A father and son go to see a large and impressive fireworks show. After the show the son says "Dad, when I grow up I want to be a pyrotechnician!" The father considers this for a moment and replies "Son, I'm afraid you can't do both"
I love it! It's so dry and humorous.
Give some good pic's of your prop launcher when your done.
I've always had an idea of using a some gyros and accelerometers to predict the exact angle of the tumbling fireworks through the air. This way you could precicley detonate it for the desired effect. For instance, those smiley faces you always see. Many times they are "flat" to the viewing audience because of the angle it detonated at. If you linked the angle with a wireless connection you could truly choreography each effect. It kinda sounds expensive per each device ... but i'm sure it's not cheap to start with.
Disney has spent large amounts of money trying to solve the problem of getting shells to break at precise locations in the sky and with specific orientations with only limited success. There is a company called MagicFire that makes electronic fuses which will break the shell at very precise times, but as you've noted it is pretty expensive when you're blowing away electronics with every shot.
What most show designers do is to develop extensive data bases of timing data so that they can pretty reliably predict the time from launch to break and allow for that in the firing script. Orientation is much harder... usually what we do is just fire five or six of a pattern shell in fast succession, presuming that statistics will come to our rescue and that some of them will break with favorable orientation.
What I'm trying to do is build a system on the cheap (but still robust and reliable) that will let me approach what you can do with the very expensive professional systems. If nothing else, I'm having a lot of fun designing and building the system!
Comments
I don't know how it is in the US or elsewhere but I have encountered quite a few people who are of the opinion that "if it saves just one life, banning it is worthwhile". A patently nonsense idea as if we all really believed that we'd ultimately ban everything but when it takes grip and gets a critical mass of public support it can have a major impact on people who do nothing wrong.
With the draconian and wide-sweeping legislation there is in the UK I wouldn't dare discuss pyrotechnics (fireworks) in a public forum and certainly not their electronic ignition systems any more.
While seeing things like the Propeller used as Hollywood props can worry those of us who can identify them, reality is that most people will see it as 'generic electronics'. While that can lead to paranoia in general over such devices, it should not really impact on any particular product unless someone makes it their particular hobby horse to bring that about.
People fear what they are told to fear.
Woo-hoo! Consider me impressed.
Midi-enabled? Some kind of stage pyrotechnics?
ROFLOL!
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New to the Propeller?
Getting started with a Propeller Protoboard?
Check out: Introduction to the Proboard & Propeller Cookbook 1.4
Updates to the Cookbook are now posted to: Propeller.warrantyvoid.us
Got an SD card connected? - PropDOS
You do realize that you're actually living the childhood dream of everyone here, don't you?
-Phil
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'Still some PropSTICK Kit bare PCBs left!
A father and son go to see a large and impressive fireworks show. After the show the son says "Dad, when I grow up I want to be a pyrotechnician!" The father considers this for a moment and replies "Son, I'm afraid you can't do both"
So for those of you who never grew up, go to www.pgi.org and join the Pyrotechnics Guild International and then come join us next August in Mason City, Iowa for our convention. I'll be there with my Prop based firing system, and you'll get to see fireworks that you'll never see anywhere else! Just because it was a childhood dream doesn't mean it can't still come true...
I love it! It's so dry and humorous.
Give some good pic's of your prop launcher when your done.
I've always had an idea of using a some gyros and accelerometers to predict the exact angle of the tumbling fireworks through the air. This way you could precicley detonate it for the desired effect. For instance, those smiley faces you always see. Many times they are "flat" to the viewing audience because of the angle it detonated at. If you linked the angle with a wireless connection you could truly choreography each effect. It kinda sounds expensive per each device ... but i'm sure it's not cheap to start with.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
What most show designers do is to develop extensive data bases of timing data so that they can pretty reliably predict the time from launch to break and allow for that in the firing script. Orientation is much harder... usually what we do is just fire five or six of a pattern shell in fast succession, presuming that statistics will come to our rescue and that some of them will break with favorable orientation.
What I'm trying to do is build a system on the cheap (but still robust and reliable) that will let me approach what you can do with the very expensive professional systems. If nothing else, I'm having a lot of fun designing and building the system!