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Medialon Manager is helping disseminate information
about an important event in World War I and Belgian
history in its role as the main sound and video
controller for a new AV installation at the Fort de
Loncin outside Liege. Medialon also controls the
lighting and the start of the self-guided audio tour for
visitors to the fort.
The Fort de Loncin was part of a fortified belt around
Liege, which was built starting in 1888. Triangular in
shape and constructed so it was partially buried in the
ground, the fort had special strategic value, blocking
the route to and from Brussels. In August 1914 it
endured eight days of shelling before the Germans
brought in the hitherto unknown Big Bertha gun. One of
its giant shells penetrated the powder magazine
triggering the explosion of the fort and the death of
350 men who are still entombed there.
Blue Squares Projects, museum installation designers and
integrators, was recently tasked with creating a new
tour experience for visitors to the Fort de Loncin. “We
had to integrate a modern AV tour in a very challenging
environment while keeping within budget constraints and
staying true to the heritage of the fort,” explains
Thierry Renard, Blue Squares Projects' Project Manager
“The old fort is cold and humid. The walls are very
thick and, of course, there was no pre-existing wiring.
We even had to deal with the presence of the army’s mine
clearance service which supervised the digging of cable
runs in about 600 meters of dugouts.”
At least the integration of Medialon was easy for Blue
Squares Projects. Medialon’s control of the
installation is done through an ethernet network and
RS485 ADLink network. The central control room
maintains control of an equipment complement which
Renard calls “decentralized to the maximum” due to the
layout and wiring of the fort.
"The equipment management is centralized in the control
room of the fort. Via the Ethernet network, DMX and
AdLink, we control two 'under-central controls rooms'
where some equipment such as audio and video players are
stored, as well others machines such as video projectors
and video players. Infra-red transceivers for the
audioguides are disseminated all along the 1km
path/course," continues Renard.
"The network functions of Medialon (Ethernet, RS485,
RS232 via Ethernet/Moxa converters) are particularly
critical to the implementation of this system and allow
for decentralization and significantly decrease the
amount of cable necessary. Also, the number of
possibilities Medialon offers for the creation of the
user-interface allows us to design friendly/convivial
control screens, adapted to each application, that are
attractive, easy and comprehensive," concluded Renard.
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