1. Mark Wilson - Examples of the products that I have workedupon.
Duringmy time at FMA (FirthMelvinAutomation) IworkedonSCADA control systemsforthe
brewingindustry.IusedPLCcontrol andladderlogicto control large itemsof plantsuch as beer
clearingcentrifuge's.
At Light& SoundDesign I workedwithlarge scale control systemswithupto200+ fixtures.DMX512
digital commsprotocol isthe industrystandardhoweverthisisaninherentlyunsafe control system
due to a lack of error checking. Itis onlyusedtocontrol relativelybenignlightingunits.
I workeduponthe Panand Tiltdrive mechanismsforthe revolutionaryIconMDigital luminaire
Thisis the unitthat containssome of the itemsthatI boughtto our meetingyesterdayevening.
I was alsoresponsible forthe control of the colourdisksviabrushedservomotorswithlocal control
I workeduponthe zoomlensassemblywhichusestoothedbeltstodrive three zoomelementsalong
a linearslide rail.Initiallydesignedtoincorporate steppermotordrive thiswaslaterchangedto
brushedservomotorsdue toa contractors inabilitytodesignacceptablyquiet drive software.
I designedthe mainchassiswhichisalostwax aluminiumcastingthatwasproducedinNY bya
companycalledArmstrongmould.
It incorporatesaDigital MicromirrorDevice (DMD) chipwhichis a TexasInstrumentsproprietary
technology.Whenthe projectwasinitialisedwe hadtonegotiate alicence fromTIto use this
technologyinourindustry.
Great care wastakenduringthe designof the Icon M fixture toensure thatitwouldperforminthe
same manneras a 'standard' luminaire inordertoease the transitiontodigital control forthe
customer.

2. As a 'spinoff'of the developmentof real time image control software forthe IconMluminaire the
M-Box mediaserverwascreated.I developedthe electronicsandhardware packagingforthisunit.
In 2007 I produceda numberof large scale mediascrollersforthe Frenchsinger/songwriter'Zazie'.
Createdinquicktime theyfeaturedaframe arrangementcontainingLED luminaireswithascroll
mechanismwhichcouldmove fromopentorearprojectionscreentocolouredgel filters.Inthe
openstate a videowall wouldbe loweredthroughthe aperture.

3. In 2008 I designedand physicallyproducedalarge numberof pantographmechanismsforthe artist
formerlyknownasPrince.These were usedatthe O2 arena.
I workedonsite on the SouthBank of the Thamesin Londoninstallingacontrol systemforthe Shell
Petroleum ElectricStormshow.Thisshow usedalarge windturbine togenerate powertodrive the
lightingandmistingeffectsinstalledinthe treesalongthe side of the river.

4. WhenLight& SoundDesignwastakenoverbyPRG, primarilyforthe intellectual property gained
duringthe Icon M projectIworkedon the designof the Bad Boyluminaire.Thiswasastadium
fixture whichcombinedthe featuresof ahighpowerfollowspotandanautomatedmovinglight.
Exhibiting48,000 lumensfromits1200w source it wasboth classleadinglybrightandextremely
'green'.It wasalso renownedforitsuseabilityandadvancedhealthmonitoringfunctions.
I designedthe Pan/Tilt,cassette style drivemoduleswhichuse Maxon BrushlessECservomotorsfor
extremelysmoothmotion.The drive alsofeaturesanelectromagneticbrake andslipperclutch
designtoaidmaintenance.Centralisedmotorcontrol viaMaxonproprietarychipsetsandCAN bus
data distributionare used.

5. These fixtureswerefirstusedonU2's 360 degree tourof 2009. Thisisthe mostsuccessful tourof all
time,grossing$558 million,andbeingwatchedby7 millionpeople.196fixtureswere usedonthis
show.BadBoywas the onlyautomatedluminaire used. The throw of upto 400 feetwasconsidered
stunning.
The BadBoy fixturescanbe seenmountedonthe central 'spine'of the stage set.There are further
fixturesmountedoneachof the legs.
Awaitinghangingonthe stage set.

6. We developedafurtherautomatedfixture,the BestBoy,asmaller,lighterstudioversionof the
BadBoy.I workedonmuch the same aspectsof thisunitas on the BadBoy.
Lookingforanotherchallenge andwithanevergrowingfamilytosupportImovedtoRotadata
where Iwas employedasadesignengineerformymotioncontrol knowledge in orderto revamp
some of the companiesagingtechnology.Iquicklymovedintoamanagerial role overthe R&D
departmentasI showedaptitude inthisarea.
Initiallyinvolvedinthe revampof the automatedprobe positioning equipmenttoimprove accuracy,
resolution,usabilityandhealthmonitoringfunctionsviathe use of an Ethernetdatadistribution
protocol which,inthe future will allow ustodirectlyinjectprobe collecteddataintothe datastream
at source,easinginstallationandmakingdatamore easilyaccessedacrossthe organisation. I
addition toaddingease of use the switchto local motorcontrol also simplifiesthe control unitused
withthese actuatorssaving thousandsof poundsonmulti actuatorsystems.

7. I am aware that these improvementsdonotappearearthshattering.However,inthe ultrasafety
conscious aerospace industrychangestendtobe incrementalratherthanrevolutionary.The
changesthat I am implementingwithinourequipmentwill save the engine development
programmeshundredsof thousandsof poundsdue to theirease of use improvements,making the
equipmentextremelyattractive tothe client.
WhenI tookon the role of R&D managerI was exposed tothe workingsof all Rotadataproducts.All
were seriouslyoutdatedintermsof technologyused.Howevereachwasstill considered tobe an
industryleaderdue mainlytoourunprecedentedlevel of reliability,again thisposition isafunction
of the evolutionarynature of the industry.
I workcloselywithindustryexpertsfromRollsRoyce indevelopingBlade TipTiming,the system
whichallowsall bladesonarotatingrotor diskto be measuredfortime of arrival comparedto a
once per revsignal whichallowscalculationof the distortionof the blade.InconjunctionwithFEA
analysisthisenablesthe stresswithinthe blade tobe determinedinreal time.Thisdataallows
engine orderresonancestobe discoveredalongwithfunctionssuchasblade twist/untwistorstall
conditions.Overtime crackpropagationcanbe monitoredandthe engine canbe shut downpriorto
a catastrophicoutcome.Obviouslythis informationisvital duringenginedevelopmentandtoengine
operators.
Two Blade TipTimingtest/ developmentrigs
Rakesand probesusedduringengine testingusuallyrequire huge amounts of eithercablingor
pneumatictubingtogetdata fromthe engine tothe dataacquisition.Thisisinstalledatgreatcost
and againit isa functionof the sedentarynature of the industrythathas acceptedthissituationfor
manyyears.I have developedbothtemperature andpressure rakeswithcoldjunctionorpressure
monitorbuiltin.Alongwithanethernetmodule installationanduse isnow far easier,fasterand
therefore cheaper.

8. Takenin isolation,andincomparisontothe machinerythatyouare buildingatSimworx these gas
turbine instrumentationproductsdonotseemtobe hugelyimpressive.WhatISimpressive isthe
environmentthatthese piecesof equipmentlive andare expectedtooperate in.Gaspath
temperatureswithin arunningturbine sectioncan be inthe regionof 1600 degreesC - higherthan
the meltingpointof mostof the alloysusedduringconstruction!Novel solutionstocoolinghave to
be derived.Forcesgenerated onthe PCBinone of our telemetryunitsrotatingataround50,000
RPMcan be almost70,000g! Anaverage resistorwithamass of 1g will exertaforce of 69kg - It is
importantto considerthisgloadingduringdesign.
I alsodesigntrade showstandsforthe business - the above rotatingLPcompressorunitoutof a
Harrier JumpJetwinningbeststandatthe ASME show in Dusseldorf.

9. The plannedstandfor2016 is a little largerandhas the complete rotorsystemoutof the Rolls-Royce
Pegasusengine (minusthe frontfan) - thisunitiscurrentlyinbuild