◎ Science and Technology Daily reporter Hualing
Only to see the "Milky Way" flowing down instantly condensed into a huge ice cube; snowflakes were placed on the "ice surface", and immediately and quietly transformed into the rising of the Olympic Rings..... The audience's senses are like a fantasy scene that constantly blends between water, ice and snow.
Screenshot of CCTV live broadcast
On February 4th, the "Bird's Nest" of the National Stadium was presented for the first time at the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, bringing the ultimate enjoyment of hundreds of millions of spectators around the world to the visual feast. Behind the blessing of aerospace science and technology is the blessing of space science and technology, ensuring that the Chinese stage at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics is as safe and accurate as launching a rocket.
"The director is responsible for the wonderful, we are responsible for safety and reliability, providing a solid foundation for the artist and providing technical support for artistic creation." On February 4, Li Minghua, secretary of the party committee of the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology (hereinafter referred to as the "Rocket Academy"), said in an interview with a reporter from Science and Technology Daily.
It is understood that the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, as the general unit of the special project of the Winter Olympics of China Aerospace Science and Technology Group Co., Ltd., has undertaken the technical support tasks of the stage, air facilities, ground display system and other projects of the opening and closing ceremonies of the Winter Olympic games and the Winter Paralympic Games. Beijing Changzheng Tianmin High-tech Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as "Long March Tianmin"), an innovative enterprise from the Beijing Economic and Technological Development Zone, is a wholly-owned company of the Beijing Institute of Aerospace Launch Technology, which belongs to the Rocket Institute. The ground stage system it undertakes should complete the most important ritual performances such as relevant displays and video playback to meet the needs of different scenes.
As the core equipment of the opening and closing ceremonies, the ground stage system is the space and carrier for implementing the "simple, safe and wonderful" requirements of the Beijing Winter Olympics and realizing the director's creativity.
Safety is the premise of all great performances. It is understood that the use of science and technology to make the stage fuller is one of the biggest features of the opening ceremony of this Winter Olympic Games. This makes even the slightest mistake on the stage that will be magnified and highlighted. In order to ensure that there is no mistake, long march Tianmin for the first time to use the aerospace system engineering mode to manage and implement industrial projects, which is also an important exploration of management innovation in the industrial field.
Li Minghua introduced that unlike the warm atmosphere of the Summer Olympic Games, which is full of flowers, this Winter Olympic Games must use science and technology and new concepts to express the ethereal and romantic feeling brought by winter. In the face of the largest stadium open-air stage in China, the long march Tianmin special team will be complex stage engineering system equipment completely placed under the calm "ice surface" - dozens of sets of motors and rigid chains, wire ropes and pulleys to cooperate with each other, driving large lifting platforms, car platforms, inclined tables and other activity equipment to complete all kinds of lifting, translation, flipping and other actions - so that "ethereal" can be realized, with machinery to give the cold stage surface surging pulse warmth.
Image source: @People's Daily
According to reports, the ice cube presented on the bird's nest stage from the "Milky Way" instantly condensed into a whole body of ice, with a total weight of about 400 tons, a lifting weight of 180 tons, and a load of more than 8 times that of the large lifting platform of the general theater, which is the maximum power of the entire opening and closing ceremonies. Under the condition that the site is limited, the Long March Tianmin research and development team drives 4 sets of synchronous transmission units composed of 16 chains and 16 wire ropes by precisely controlling the motor, so that the positioning accuracy of this huge ice cube is controlled at ±1mm.
When the snowflakes on the "ice surface" are immediately and quietly transformed into the rising of the Olympic rings, this cloud-like transition comes from the "small opening and closing" method of "sinking first, then panning, and finally rising" adopted by the central lifting platform on the ground. Long March Tianmin adopts this innovative approach, which can reduce the sense of abruptness caused by large movements, provide a smooth and stable stage for artistic performances and process ceremonies, and create a quiet and aesthetic mood with the overall performance.
Li Minghua said that the design of the stage mechanical control system has joined the digital simulation software and hardware equipment used in the product research and development of the aerospace system, carried out the optimization design of the control algorithm, and comprehensively carried out semi-physical simulation test tests, creatively combining the Winter Olympic project with the quality management system familiar to the astronauts, so as to identify and avoid major mistakes in the design stage and improve the reliability and safety of the entire system. Compared with the general rocket flight test, nearly 100 ground tests are required, and the stage system of the Winter Olympics has carried out nearly 1,000 ground tests. Through various subsystems and comprehensive tests, all unreliable factors are eliminated and "zero mistakes" are achieved in live performances.
In response to the call of "thrifty Olympics", the Long March Tianmin special team gave full play to the rocket institute's housekeeping skills of "reducing costs and increasing efficiency" in the aerospace system engineering management model, and cooperated with zhang Yimou's general director's creative team to complete more than 20 rounds of continuous adjustment and optimization of creative programs, saving nearly 10 million yuan in costs.
Source: Science and Technology Daily
Editor: Zhang Qiqi
Review: Wang Xiaolong
Final Judgement: Wang Yu