A stand-alone item the lift rose to stage height at 2.1m. Our team were briefed with perimeter dimensions, as well as the top level and bottom level dimensions of the stage.

The lift was powered using two motors that ran from a single control box, used to send the lift up and down as required.

The lift was designed with an override for each motor so that it could be manually re-levelled if needed between the different venues.

We first manufactured a chassis that drove up and down the causeway. The chassis was installed with a revolve that travelled 360 degrees in each direction, and the revolve topped with the scissor lift upon which the elephant puppet was mounted.

The 30-foot-tall mechanical elephant was controlled via two control boxes, with one handset to operate the lift and revolve, and a second for the traverse. The elephant was manually controlled by crew who would walk alongside the causeway during the performance.

As there were no existing specifications regarding the limits of travel of the elephant, this was tested with the lift to ensure there would be no interference between the puppet and the lift during operation.

We built six hydraulic power packs (plus a spare) and rams, with a hydraulic control system, for the actuation of the petals. This system offered two control channels so that the operator could assign the petals to different channels as needed should the petals be required to open asynchronously.