Gilderfluke&Co 'Dumb' Brick Animation Control System - Manual (Page 7)

- Micro MACs Brick Animation Control Systems Overview -
The Micro MACs Brick Animation Control Systems are the simplest Animation Control
Systems offered by Gilderfluke & Company. They are used where ever you need an
Animation Control System that will run continuously or when started by an external trigger.
Typical applications are in rides and attractions where the vehicle entering the scene trig-
gers the animation. At the end of the animation sequence, the Animation Control System
will stop and wait for the next vehicle to enter the scene.
Micro MACs Bricks are available as record/playback or playback-only Animation
Control Systems. All record/playback Bricks and many playback-only Bricks come in a
case along with a power supply. These are complete Animation Control Systems which re-
quire only power to run.
Micro MACs Bricks are also available as card cage mounted playback-only cards.
These can be plugged into one of the many card cages available from Gilderfluke &
Company. They can also be mounted to a panel on screw standoffs and connected
using a sixty position edge connector if you donÕt want to use a card cage.
The Micro MACs Bricks can all be located at one or more central locations, or they can
be built right into whatever it is they are controlling. This latter method allows you to prewire
an entire attraction. The only field wiring needed is a wire to connect the figures to their trig-
ger sources (if any). This also allows you to bring along a figureÕs Animation Control System
with the figure when it is removed for maintenance. The figure can then be run on your
service bench for testing and adjustment.
Standard Micro MACs ÔBricksÕ are commonly referred to as ÔDumb BricksÕ to differentiate
them from the ÔSmartÕ Bricks in our Smart Brick Animation Control Systems. If you need to
lock to a LaserDisk or Smpte Time Code, or if you need to randomly access many shows,
we recommend you use our Smart Brick Animation Control Systems.
Record/Playback Micro MACs Bricks store the animation data in static Ram memory
chips. These are protected from power outages and data loss by a nickel-cadmium bat-
tery. This battery is always on a trickle charge when the Micro MACs Brick is plugged in,
and should hold the data safe for years even when no power is applied. A keyswitch on
the front of each record/playback Micro MACs Brick keeps down the possibility of acci-
dental or unauthorized tampering with recorded show data.
Playback-only Micro MACs Bricks store their data in Eprom type memory chips. This is
about the safest way known to store any type of data. One Eprom is used to store each
individual eight bit wide channel. This means that when you have to perform a minor
change in one output, you donÕt have to replace all the Eproms in the system.
Playback-only Micro MACs Brick Animation Control Systems are programmed using a
record/playback Animation Control system that is used only until the show programming
is completed. In the past, one or more Record/Playback Micro MACs Bricks has often
been used for programming shows. Once programmed, the data is downloaded to a
computer and burnt into the Eproms using a Micro Console. Most shows now use a
PC¥MACs Animation Control System for programming. Many simple shows can even be
programmed just by ÔdrawingÕ the animation sequence on the screen of any PC. No spe-
cial hardware is required.
G ILDERFLUKE & C O . ¥ 205 S OUTH F LOWER S T . ¥ B URBANK , C ALIF . 91502-2102 ¥ 818/840-9484 ¥ FAX 818/840-9485
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