LET'S GET TECHNICAL

Some special fireworks information for the un-initiated but curious.

Question: I saw an amazing firework display recently. Fireworks popped open in the sky exactly when a cymbal crash happened in the music. Rows of things that shot upward moved quickly down a long line, then came back, then went from the center outward. How did they do that?

Well, Emily, you have seen an example of firework displays coming into the computer age. Without getting TOO technical, I will try to explain how what you saw came about.

BACKGROUND: For hundreds of years firework displays were hand lit by pyrotechnicians standing very close to the fireworks. A few decades ago, firework companies began using what we call electric matches. That is a little tube that has some flammable chemicals in it and has two long wires coming out the back. Each firework has an electric match connected to its fuse. During the display, the person firing the show presses electrical switch buttons on a firing panel and the electric matches connected to that button lights the fireworks. That means the firer can be a much further and safer distance from the fireworks. It also means that many fireworks, even spread out over a wide area, can be fired with one push of a button.

COMPUTER FIRING: A few years ago some companies began coming out with computer firing systems. The main items of these rather complicated systems include:

1. A desktop or laptop computer, usually purchased separately by the buyer of the system.

2. Show designing software.

3. Display firing software.

4. A firing control console.

5. Remote firing module boxes.

6. A large battery to power the system and fire the electric matches.

7. Various electrical cables to hook the whole thing together.

HOW DOES IT WORK?: I will try to summarize in a few paragraphs what is involved in producing a computer-fired firework display.

First, the firework company will input information about all of the fireworks they use into the show designing software. The main information needed is the name and size of each firework. The show designer has to know all of the choices for the display that can be used. The delay time between the firing of a firework and when it opens in the air is inputted too, that is very important information.

Now the show designing software is ready to help design a firework display. If the fireworks will be fired to music, that music must be chosen, edited and made available to the software. The display can be fired without music also. The person designing the show will select the fireworks he wants to fire and when they are to appear during the show. The software looks up that firework in its data bank and reads how long the inputted delay time is. Therefore, if I want a shell to open at exactly one minute into the show, during that cymbal crash, the software will place a firing cue however many seconds before one minute that I have told it the time delay is. Once all of the fireworks for the show have been chosen, the software will generate the necessary computer information to fire the display like the designer wanted.

Now it's the day of the firework display and we are at the firing site. The computer containing the show design software and firing software are connected to the firing console. Out where the fireworks are being set up, workers are connecting the electric matches to boxes or rails that have many pairs of connectors for the two wires coming from each electric match. Those, in turn, are connected to the field firing modules, spread out all over the area where the fireworks are. Each module has a unique computer address so the computer can "talk" to each one individually. All of these modules are hooked together with a cable, and the other end of that cable is connected to the firing console.

When all of the connections are finished, the firing system tests the cables, firing modules and connections to the electric matches. If there are any problems, they will be listed on the computer screen. The workers will go check what the computer tells them to check. When those situations are fixed, the show is ready to be fired.

When it's time for the display, the firer starts the computer program that will fire the firework show. The music begins, if there is music, and the firework display automatically begins to fire. The pyrotechnician and his crew watch the display to make sure it is going off safely. If any problems were to develop, he or she can instantly stop the computer firing of the display by pressing a STOP button. Normally, there will be no problem and the entire display fires automatically from beginning to end.

The latest software is capable of firing up to one hundred firing cues per second. The moving row of colored fire you saw was a row of firework mines. Each firing cue lit one mine as the computer fired them down a long line, and during the other "movements" you saw. It's that kind of creativity and rapid firing that has never been available to fireworks companies until now.

As new magical effects in the fireworks are made by fireworks manufacturers, the way to fire them is evolving too. Completely wireless radio-controlled systems are now available. Who knows what will be next, but I'm sure new and completely amazing systems will continue to come out and become the "leading edge" of technology for fireworks firing in displays.

If you are curious to see what firing systems look like, I have a page on this web site that lists many companies that make electric and electronic firing systems. Some of them make computerized system too. From that page you may visit the web sites of those manufacturers. Go there by clicking HERE.

A 500 shell firework display ready to be fired by an electronic firing system.