Very high Tech but I wonder about liability waivers. Those robots would slice and dice you without a blink if someone got in the way or there was a major malfunction. You wouldn't think the company would sell them for that purpose.
Robot Rules, you know... harm no humans...
There are cameras, both visible light and IR, that cover the areas the robots work in, and the Automation Carpenter constantly views the monitors watching for people who are where they aren't supposed to be. He has his hand poised above the emergency stop during every move.
If you recall the country singer who got his foot/boot caught in an ego ramp lift a couple years ago, the design was lacking in safety devices, and the human who was under the lift didn't notice the singer shifting his feet, moving the toe of one boot into the operating path. That lift was immediately fitted with both IR curtains and pressure sensors to prevent that accident from happening again. That was one of those "DOH!" moments that was not lost on Tait, who upped the safety features of their designs.
As more automation gets used to make shows "spectacular" for the punters, look for more safety devices and more areas backstage/under stage restricted to specific personnel. Training the talent to deal with unexpected stops or failures will be a bigger part of production rehearsals, too.
Eveyone needs an escape plan. When one of tours of Cats came through here, there were no fewer than 4 plans to get the old fat cat out of the tire for curtain call should the automation fail. I'd expect arena shows to be no different.
Have fun, watch for moving robots.
Tim Mc
