IT group "Otkritie" organized night lighting of the building "Rostelecom" in Lipetsk

2022: Organization of night lighting of the Rostelecom building in Lipetsk

IT Group "Opening" December 27, 2022 announced the organization of night lighting of the building of the telecommunications company Rostelecom in Lipetsk.

The building of PJSC Rostelecom is one of the notable in, Lipetsk including thanks to its creative design. However, this has until recently been seen only in the daytime. time The Lipetsk leadership had the idea to organize the lighting of the building, which would make it a landmark of the city. The idea was to supplement the existing image of the building and force it to play with other colors. But not simple spotlights - the backlight was supposed to become high-tech and artistic. The task was entrusted IT to the OTKRITIE GROUP, which coped with it by April 2021.

Rostelecom building in Lipetsk

During the development of the solution concept, various options were considered. Some seemed not bright enough and large-scale (simple architectural lighting will not be able to emphasize the features of the building), while others - for example, projection using classic powerful projectors - turned out to be too expensive. As a result of the discussion, it was decided to dwell on the idea of ​ ​ gobo projection (the technology involves the use of powerful LED light sources and a static slide). It was decided to use the 9 most powerful (data for April 2021) gobo projectors with full-color stencils from the market. Their combination was supposed to provide a bright and detailed picture on two facades of the building. The project also provided for the use of three lasers that could give a static light picture dynamics.

The idea of just filling the walls of a building with light was primitive. We decided to achieve the effect of playing light and shadows, making the picture bright and juicy.

On one side of the building, the company highlighted and highlighted satellite an antenna that sends a signal to. space Through playing with shadows and bright accents, this image became alive. Another facade of the building was decorated with an abstract drawing of part of the terrestrial ball. The company complemented it with a brightly highlighted map, and Russia also emphasized abstract elements, said Vladimir Rozin, CEO of IT GROUP OTKRITIE.

In order to give the light canvas a speaker, it was decided to turn to laser projection technology. Despite the fact that at the time of choosing the supplier of the solution there were no restrictions on the supply of equipment to Russia, we decided to turn to the experience of the Russian company RUSLASER, which produces high-power laser projectors with sufficient characteristics for project purposes. After numerous tests, a set of three 20W laser projectors was chosen, which work as a single device: each unit draws its own part of the image, together they add up to a single picture. After sunset, gobo projectors are lit, the laser show is repeated every 15 minutes.

Two plots were prepared: the first tells the story of the appearance of communication from Morse code to current data transmission technologies, and the second - about the history of Lipetsk. Separate shows were also prepared for the holidays: Defender of the Fatherland Day, International Women's Day, Cosmonautics Day, Victory Day and, of course, for the New Year holidays, told Vladimir Rozin.

Each of the gobo projectors, installed at a certain angle, illuminates its own image area. Unlike classic projectors, it is not possible to adjust the geometry of the picture on the fly. To make sure that the boundaries of the image formed by different projectors are exactly matched, special stencils with a mesh are installed in them as a demonstration slide. After adjusting the position of each projector, in order to make sure the result is correct, you need to take a photo of the image at an angle as close as possible to the straight one, which is far from always simple. Meanwhile, the price of the error is additional costs and a minimum of two weeks for the manufacture of other stencils. And if one facade of the building was relatively easy to remove, since there was a house nearby, the roof of which was at the level of the middle of the building of PJSC Rostelecom, then a quadcopter had to be used to shoot the opposite facade. Since a series of shots from one point is needed, calm weather was needed.

Difficulties were added by the fact that the building belongs to Rostelecom, which means that many antennas are deployed on its roof, which are a source of interference for a radio-controlled copter, which regularly lost contact and tried to fly away or sit down altogether. The process of performing the control survey was not trivial.

I also had to make other stencils - the original ones were not contrasting enough and did not give the picture the desired volume. The second version gave a more perfect, from an artistic point of view, result: important elements became bright, and secondary elements were either muted or completely went into the shadows. The issue of placing equipment arose: it should be on the street and work all year round. For this, an all-weather thermal box was developed, which contains three laser projectors, a control server and all automation. The requirements for such a product are very high: in winter it must warm the equipment (in Lipetsk the temperature can reach -30 C °), and in summer it must be cooled. The thermal box was equipped with a double temperature control system and an emergency shutdown and warning system in case of exceeding the operating ranges.

In addition, remote access was provided to monitor work and support. All work on the installation of the system was completed in three months, although in general the project turned out to be longer - in particular, due to the need to create a special support for the equipment that the city administration was supposed to build. Mikhail Basyuk, the company's sound and light engineer, supervised each stage of the technical work, so the implementation of the project exceeded expectations.