EtherCAT And PC-Based Control Music-Synchronized and Safe Pyrotechnic Effects

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Beckhoff Automation GmbH & Co. KG

FAULHABER Drive Systems

Wuxi InfiMotion Technology Co., Ltd.

An American company stages spectacular pyrotechnic effects for top bands. To synchronize these special effects in real time and terminate them at any time with the push of a button, integrated control and safety technology from Beckhoff is used.

Image Engineering from Curtis Bay, Maryland, plays a leading role behind the scenes of some of the most extravagant concert productions in recent years. Notable examples include the 2023 "Take Back Your Life" rock concert tour by Disturbed and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra's 2024 winter tour "The Lost Christmas Eve." According to the company, it is setting new standards in special effects through the use of powerful automation and control technology. "The owners of Image Engineering are all engineers, and therefore, from the very beginning, technology has been our main focus," said Ian Bottiglieri, Vice President of Operations. "This sets us apart from competitors in the live event industry."

The concept of the Fire Snake arose from the demand of the top band Disturbed for unprecedented pyrotechnic effects. Aside from the usual lighting, only flame systems were to be used on stage. "I still remember sitting in the conference room and asking the band, 'Where should the video screen go?'" recalled Nick Hock, Director of R&D and Installation/Integrations at Image Engineering. "And the answer was, 'There is no video screen. The fire should be the only visual element of the show.'"

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When Image Engineering worked with Disturbed's production team to create the visual tour experience, the specialists simultaneously had to ensure that the Fire Snake operated safely and reliably in numerous environments, as well as under different temperatures and orientations—all accomplished in less than four months.

Trial By Fire for Engineers

Image Engineering invested an enormous amount of research and development into every aspect of the Fire Snake. This included questions such as how to safely supply the right amount of propane at pressures of up to 22 psi and maintain a consistent pilot flame, regardless of the orientation of the Fire Snake. The Fire Snake concept required replacing traditional burner bars with advanced, responsive burners for more dynamic fire effects. The resulting linear burner system enables the creation of a 11 feet-wide wall of fire with proportional control of flames in variable shapes and heights ranging from 4 to 6 feet. Additionally, two large burst valves can create rolling fireballs.

The Fire Snake was designed to be compact and modular, ensuring easy transport, quick setup, and seamless integration into existing stage structures. The automation and safety technology needed to control complex fire effects while meeting the stringent safety requirements of local authorities. After several meetings with the entertainment experts from Beckhoff, Image Engineering decided to collaborate with the automation specialist: modern PC-based control technology with the integrated safety technology TwinSAFE, based on the Industrial Ethernet system EtherCAT, was chosen as it offers more flexibility than conventional control systems.

The Fire Snake Comes to Life

During the Disturbed tour, the Fire Snake had to move actively and change its shape to match the setlist. When the band began playing, the Fire Snake rig slowly came to life, later transitioning into more dynamic movement. To achieve this, five segmented units of the Fire Snake were mounted on a truss structure with five winches, allowing the angle of each unit to be adjusted. With just over a centimeter of space between the units, freedom of movement was ensured while maintaining a continuous, uninterrupted appearance for the linear fire effects.

The Touring Accumulator System (TAS) by Image Engineering converts propane from liquid to gas and directs it to the effect heads. When the units are adjusted to angles of 45° or 50°, the behavior of the fuel and flame changes, and the control system must maintain both the effects and safety. "The Beckhoff system not only provides the flexibility to meet the framework guidelines for flame effect systems outlined in NFPA 160 but also often exceeds local legal requirements in the USA," says Nick Hock.

Numerous Safety Mechanisms

The trouble-free operation of the Fire Snake is ensured by numerous safety mechanisms integrated into the control platform via TwinSAFE terminals. An emergency stop shuts down the entire system, and the operator can see all safety-related status information at a glance on the control console. "It was very reassuring for local fire marshals to witness during a demonstration how the entire Fire Snake could be brought to a controlled stop with the press of a button," says Nick Hock.

The portable control cases, designed in suitcase form, contain the Embedded PCs CX5140 and CX8190 with directly aligned EtherCAT terminals as the primary and backup controls. EtherCAT and Safety over EtherCAT (FSoE) enable continuous real-time communication and synchronization for the entire system with all safety devices and systems for lighting and other stage effects. "Real-time performance is crucial for us because we need to keep perfect time with the band's music and lighting," says Nick Hock. "Even a millisecond delay would be immediately noticeable to the audience. A proven technology like EtherCAT ensures that the Fire Snake stays perfectly in sync."

The Fire Snake uses various EtherCAT terminals—supported by the TwinCAT software—for flexible integration of devices from other networks such as DMX and OSC. For instance, Image Engineering utilizes the single-channel DMX interface EL6851 to control the flame effects of the Fire Snake.

After the Show is Before the Show

The system met all requirements for a quick setup and breakdown during several tours of Disturbed and the Trans-Siberian Orchestra. Image Engineering was thus able to deliver multiple Fire Snakes to the 56 concerts of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra in just 40 days on the East and West Coasts of the USA—simultaneously.

The ability of the Beckhoff platform to withstand extremely high ambient temperatures was another advantage, especially during summer concerts. "The heat resistance of the Embedded PCs is impressive," says Claire Bowman, Associate Director of Engineering at Image Engineering. "We’ve used other embedded systems before that experienced performance issues in Las Vegas at temperatures nearing 49° C. However, the Beckhoff system always works flawlessly."

In addition, unreliable power supplies in certain cities were an issue for Image Engineering. "We faced serious problems with power quality at some stops on the tour," says Claire Bowman. "This led to significant performance issues at the worst possible times. But with the help of the Beckhoff team during troubleshooting and the PS2001 power supply with an integrated EtherCAT interface, we were able to resolve the issue and ensure a reliable power supply, regardless of the quality of the feed-in. We also installed a large capacitive UPS CU8110 for flawless power distribution."

EtherCAT Simplifies Error Diagnostics

"With EtherCAT, we have excellent error diagnostic capabilities," says Nick Hock. "We can simply look at the HMI of the Fire Snake and see which nodes are properly connected and which are not. EtherCAT precisely pinpoints the exact source of any issue in the system. In the past, problem-solving often took hours, but with EtherCAT and TwinCAT, it now only takes minutes."

The user-friendly programming environment of TwinCAT 3, integrated into Microsoft Visual Studio, significantly reduced software development time. "We can implement robust systems that are relatively easy to program—mainly because we don’t have to create our own function blocks for basic functions," says Claire Bowman. "These blocks are already included in the TwinCAT software libraries."

Additionally, the PC-based control hardware has drastically reduced hardware development time compared to when the company was still developing its own embedded boards. "90% of the products worked immediately without extensive rework," says Ian Bottiglieri. "Apart from that, simple programming and setup have reduced development and commissioning time by almost 50%."

Encore for the Fire Snake

After its debut, the Fire Snake was universally praised by audiences, artists, and industry experts. "The band members of Disturbed loved it, and the audience responded very positively," says Nick Hock. The recognition culminated in 2024 with the awarding of the Parnelli Award for Pyrotechnics Special Effects Company of the Year to Image SFX, the sister company of Image Engineering. The Parnelli Award is the most prestigious accolade that live event companies can achieve in their industry.

The collaboration with Beckhoff enabled Image Engineering to push the boundaries of what is possible in pyrotechnics. The Fire Snake can now be used as a standard solution or individually adapted to each production. It can also be seamlessly integrated into other stage control systems used in the entertainment industry.

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