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COcon

Cocon is a performance that is an inerplay between the Cello Octet Amsterdam, Robotics and light. Eight enormous robotic arms fold around the cellists to form a protective cocon. During the play the arms will move and almost become a living entity. The movements in combination with lights, lasers and smoke create a true spectacle. Always in harmony with the music.

Cellists playing during the show

Laser interacting with the robotic arms

All 8 leds on show

Approach

For this performance Daniel de Bruin designed and created the robot arms. The arms are equipped with a head that can be moved in every orientation. The head contains two ultra bright 170W 30mm LEDS, a mirror and a matta black plate. This way the head can be used to shine light in one or two directions, absorb laser beams or reflect laser beams. The arms were controlled by ultra precise linear actuators, enabling us to move the 4 meter long arms with sub-millimeter precision.

My responsibilities

My task was to design the LED drivers. The drivers needed to be able to dim the two 48V 170W LEDs smoothly while being controlled by DMX. To do so I designed custom LED dimmers that could provide 16 bit dimming on two output channels. A custom DIN rail compatible housing was designed to make sure the dimmers were properly protected and looked professional. The dimmers contained the following features:

  • 2 16 Bit PWM controlled constant current LED drivers

  • Interpolation between the DMX frames to smoothen fade curves

  • Average output level limiting to make sure the LEDs would not overheat

  • Fan control for multiple fans

LED dimmer Circuit Board

LED dimmer fully assembled

LED dimmers ready for installation

My responsibilities

My task was to design the LED drivers. The drivers needed to be able to dim the two 48V 170W LEDs smoothly while being controlled by DMX. To do so I designed custom LED dimmers that could provide 16 bit dimming on two output channels. A custom DIN rail compatible housing was designed to make sure the dimmers were properly protected and looked professional. The dimmers contained the following features:

  • 2 16 Bit PWM controlled constant current LED drivers

  • Interpolation between the DMX frames to smoothen fade curves

  • Average output level limiting to make sure the LEDs would not overheat

  • Fan control for multiple fans

COCON trailer

Photograpy by Alex Heuvink, Sebastian Boon and Pim Swinkels.
Video by Dammes Mees Kieft

© 2023 Pim Swinkels Creative Engineering

Contact@pimswinkels.com

kvk: 76080080

BTW: NL003035556B22

© 2023 Pim Swinkels Creative Engineering

Contact@pimswinkels.com

kvk: 76080080

BTW: NL003035556B22