Mathematical model of scenery hoist system at the olivier theatre

Theatres generally have a substantial number of hoists etc. for moving scenery during performances, but one never needs to use more than a proportion of them at any one time. The number of drive controllers provided can therefore be limited to the maximum number needed for simultaneous use, and these can be connected to the required set of hoists through a switching network. The paper gives an account of the design of the switching network developed for the Olivier Theatre, and of the algorithm which selects paths through this network during operational use. The algorithm is implemented on a minicomputer.