Overview

PosiStageNet (PSN in the following) is a protocol specification for transmitting position data and was developed jointly by VYV and MA Lighting.
The protocol specification can be found at: https://posistage.net/#download.

PSN is mainly used in stage and entertainment technology. The data are transmitted by UDP/IP.
In general PSN is used to transmit the position data of objects, these objects being called "trackers". The method of determining the position data is not specified and is left up to the user.
For example, position data from a position measuring system (encoder) can be used; these are then sent to a lighting controller for the automatic "tracking" of this object.
The following illustration shows the principle structure, consisting of the "lighting world" and the "sensor world", and also indicates a few of the possibilities to detect the positions using Beckhoff components.

PSN defines two different telegrams:

• The PSN_INFO telegram contains general information such as the system name and the names of the individual objects and is sent cyclically with a clock rate of 1 Hz.
• The PSN_DATA telegram transmits three-dimensional position data, velocities and the like and should be sent cyclically with a clock rate of at least 60 Hz.

On account of its open interfaces in software and hardware, PC-based control from BECKHOFF is ideally suited to the central or local control of all systems in stage, show and concert technology, such as moving objects, lighting technology, AV and media technology, and building automation. In addition to PSN, Beckhoff supports the DMX, sACN, Art-Net and SMPTE Timecode protocols as well as various audio interfaces.
PSN therefore lends itself to the provision of existing position data to other systems or to the processing of position data from other systems.

Requirements:

The sample in this manual was created based on version 1.7 of the specification of PSN.