Merry Christmas to all... and to all, a Very Warm Night!:)

Check out this great Guitar Rendition of "God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen" (video and link below)...

God Bless,

Don

FireHero 3 Christmas Special: "God Rest Ye, Merry Gentlemen" by August Burns Red

Video Link...
http://youtu.be/05zCLWFPDZw

The entire pyrotechnic system was built by a very talented young man named Chris Marion. He built it to do a Show at a Music Festival. Check out more info on the Project Below...

Don

FireHero 3

FireHero 3 is finally here! Originally built for a music festival, FireHero 3 was designed from the ground up to focus on putting on an incredible live show. Read on to see more pictures and details of the system!

Thumbs up!

And now for some info about the system itself!
FireHero 3 is rebuilt from the ground up. Some of the new features of this version include:

A completely revamped fuel system capable of delivering almost 10 times the peak propane output of the previous versions.
A new Silicon Nitride HSI-based ignition system.
A custom-designed control system complete with an operator's panel, status displays, custom data exchange protocols, and solid-state switching of the solenoid valves.
The increase of the normal five effects to six (to accommodate the guitar interface) and the addition of four 40-foot flame effects to the frame (not shown in the current video)
The addition of two free-standing flame cannons, each capable of producing 100 foot flames.

A new control system was designed for FireHero 3, from the ground up. I developed a socket-based Ethernet communications protocol and client/server software using Python to exchange information between the control computer(s) and the Raspberry Pi-powered FireHero server. Commands are sent to a multithreaded server running on the Pi, which then controls an Arduino Mega over a 1,000,000 baud serial connection. Interesting note: I was having HUGE issues with note delay times until I bumped up the baud rate to 1,000,000 bps. The Arduino Mega then sends TTL signals to Solid State Relays (SSR), which in turn fire the solenoid valves on 120VAC. You'll notice that the Arduino Mega is sporting an Ethernet shield, which allows it to send back real-time status data of the system on request. A separate control computer pings the Arduino, which responds with the current status of the FireHero system. This includes effect states, current levels on each HSI, the HSI voltage reading, the pressure readings from the digital pressure transducers, and temperature readings from the main frame. All of this data is displayed on a custom GUI at the operator's panel. This software also performs automatic monitoring of the system, with built-in fail safes to initiate a system shutdown in the event of over-pressure or over-temperature readings, a current reading from an HSI that is below a certain threshold (which means that the HSI is dead or dying and un-ignited propane could soon be venting), and over-or-under voltage readings. Also integrated into the system are N.C. emergency stop perimeter switches, which instantly kill the power to the solenoid valves (which fail closed) and initiates a system-wide shutdown. Another interesting note: the operator's panel is protected by keyswitch and RFID, making it impossible for anyone unauthorized to boot up the system without the proper key and RFID tag.
Read More and see more Pics...
http://www.chrismarion.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=170:firehero-3&catid=43:pyrotechnics&Itemid=226