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Multi-head control scores a bullseye

MRMC’s new Multi-Head Controller (MHC) software controls robotic heads at the touch of a screen. The user interface is based around skins – a controller designed to be relevant to a particular sport, environment or camera position.

The touchscreen UI was initially devised to control robotic cameras for Sky Sports’ coverage of PDC Darts tournaments. An intuitive ‘dart board skin’ allowed an operator to touch part of the board to trigger a pre-set camera move, providing a level of speed, accuracy and smoothness vital to provide close-up shots of fast-moving sports, explained MRMC.

MHC’s UI can be tailored to virtually any broadcast requirement, giving users instantly recognisable buttons, graphics or moves. There are skins for tennis and football, for example, and a generic skin can be customised for a studio, a stadium or other live event.

It works as a standalone application and with hardware controllers, such as pan bars, MRMC joystick or other USB devices, such as a games controller.

As it is built on IP technology, the robotic heads can be controlled remotely (and operators can watch an IP video stream, so they don’t have to have a video link to the camera).

The MHC server can dynamically control an unlimited number of robotic pods and takes input information, from multiple users and sources, and translates this to smooth fluid camera moves on any of the robotic heads.

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