Gilderfluke&Co old Smart Brick Manual - Manual (Page 11)

- The Parts of the Smart Brick System -
The Brick Brain is a small microprocessor controlled unit which can synchronize any
number of Smart Bricks to a LaserDisk player, SMPTE time code, internal time base, or exter-
nal time base. In addition it can control the LaserDisk player or tape deck and provide a
countdown timer for the delay between shows. For all but the SMPTE time code, it can in-
stantly randomly access any show stored in the system (SMPTE synchronized shows are
slaved to whatever show the SMPTE time code is requesting). At the end of any show it can
automatically jump to any other show, either with or without a user adjustable delay be-
fore playing this next show. If it is already playing a show and it gets a request for another
show, it can be told to ignore the request, store it until done with the current show, or jump
to it immediately.
Brick Brains are attached to the Smart Bricks and Heads Up Displays by up to a mile of
6 conductor modular telephone wire. (This is the same type of wire and connector as
found on the standard Bricks, but is incompatible with the signals which they use.) Just
about any number of Smart Bricks can be attached to a single Brain (If the wire runs are
long and there are a lot of Smart Bricks attached, a repeater may be required in the line.)
Make sure that this cable does not have its wires flipped from one end to the other. If the
wire run is long, then a terminator should be installed at the two extreme ends of the line.
The Smart Bricks are available as record/playback Smart Bricks, playback-only Smart
Bricks, or card cage mounted playback-only Smart Brick cards. Each Smart Brick can
control up to four 8 bit channels. These can be used as 32 on/off ÔdigitalÕ controls, as four
8 bit wide analog channels, or as any combination of the two. If one Smart Brick doesnÕt
have enough outputs, you simply add more, stacking them until you have enough out-
puts to do the job. Analog resolutions greater than eight bits can easily be achieved by
combining the outputs from more than a single channel.
The Smart 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 wire an en-
tire attraction by just stringing up a 6 conductor modular telephone line to connect all
your figures. It also allows you to remove a figureÕs animation system along with the figure
when it is removed for maintenance, and then run them both on a service bench away
from the rest of the show for testing and adjustment. A Smart Brick System can consist of
any combination of record/playback Smart Bricks, playback-only Smart Bricks and card
cage mounted Smart Bricks.
Record/Playback Smart Bricks store the data as it is recorded into 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 Smart Brick is plugged in, and
should hold the data safe for years. A keyswitch on the front of each record/playback
Smart Brick, as well as a small switch inside the Brick Brain, keep down the possibility of ac-
cidental or unauthorized tampering with recorded show data.
Playback-only Smart 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 individu-
al eight bit wide channel, which means that when you have to perform a minor change
in one output, you donÕt have to replace all the Eproms in the system.
G ILDERFLUKE & C O .¥ 205 S. F LOWER S T .¥ B URBANK , CA 91502 ¥ 818/840-9484 ¥ 800/776-5972 ¥ FAX 818/840-9485
1 of 134