Overdrive has become the professional standard for the operation of hydraulic and electromechanical machines and Animatronics in filmmaking worldwide. Overdrive is a valuable part of VFX shoots, Motion Capture environments and Meta-data collection systems. Incorporating maximally digital motion control technology and an acclaimed user interface, Overdrive is the tool of choice for interfacing with the real world in modern filmmaking environments. New to the Overdrive suite is the "Task Sequencing Engine" - a robotic motion planning and decision-making module, which can be developed by the end-user.
Overdrive coordinates motion on-set, whether real-world or virtual. It allows the integration of real time pre-visualization, cameras, motion bases & gimbals, animatronics, motion capture, and AR or CGI virtual props and environments. As the hub of a streaming motion network, Overdrive can combine and distribute Meta-data in hard real time. Continuing development targets the interfacing of Overdrive with a variety of new products and systems, from industrial robots to camera dollys.
With Overdrive in the production environment, operators have portable, user-friendly graphical tools to meet creative needs efficiently. The software is quick to configure and highly adaptable to new mechanical applications. Motion relationships can be patched together graphically, decision-making features make your machine safer and "smarter", and user-plugins can even be added (like spreadsheet formulas).
The Overdrive system comes in several form factors and configurations. The system computer is available as a 19" rack-mount, as a rugged portable chassis, as a laptop, or as a handheld size embedded controller.
An Overdrive "System Kit" is a fully functional OEM system, typically including : Control Station Computer w/ analog and digital input, Overdrive Software, Rack mount chassis, 1 Stack-EC or Chip-EC, 2 Fiber transceivers, Communications Fiber, Hardware Documentation, EC power supply.
Illustrated above are sample applications representative of what some of our customers have done with Overdrive. See the projects page for more real-world application descriptions.
Overdrive Product Brochure (pdf)
What is Overdrive? (pdf)
The Task Sequencing Engine is a robotic motion planning module which can be used to make decisions and coordinate the execution of ordered tasks. Task dependencies and execution are managed graphically in the Taskview app (seen above), which provides interactive script editing and logging. Built-in libraries allow remote control of the real-time Overdrive system, so as to coordinate multiple robot subsystems, or manage tasks on one machine. The engine is written in Python so as to be end-user modifiable, for the needs of a custom applications. Task planning takes the form of JSON "scripts" which launch Python tasks and read sensors from, or send motion to Overdrive.
Customizing technology to your needs can be essential - software development projects are welcome.
Cooperative Development Program (pdf)
European sales and technical support available through our exclusive distributor
Moco-FX Ltd
