jShow -- Pyromusical System


I decided to donate some labor to my home town fireworks display. I am an electrical engineer and I like building things. I decided to build a computerized system for shooting fireworks synchronized to music -- a pyromusical system. Such systems already exist commercially but they are far outside the price range of your typical small town fireworks display. I was willing to trade my labor to bring the price down (plus it was fun!). My design goals were



The system passed its first test on July 4, 2004 with flying colors, literally.

It currently supports more than 400 cues and the bill-of-material cost is less than $3 per cue. More details are referenced below.