Show dictionary · Rigging & Staging
Load Cell
A load cell is a force sensor installed in a rigging path (between point and motor, or in a tower leg) that measures the real load at that location, typically monitored wirelessly. It converts a plot’s calculated numbers into live measured ones.
In practice
Cells earn their rental on complex hangs: multi-point trusses where trim differences shift load invisibly, capacity-critical house points, and automation moves where dynamic forces exceed static math. Monitoring software alarms on thresholds, catching a snagged truss before hardware does the arguing.
They are also the audit tool of honest rigging: when the calculated 470 pounds reads 610, something (trim, geometry, an uncounted cable pick) is telling the truth about the plot. Big touring rigs increasingly fly instrumented as a matter of course.
How you’ll hear it
"Cells on the mother grid read even within fifty pounds; lock the trims and log the numbers."
Related resources
Part of the eventools.io Show Dictionary, a free glossary of live event production terminology.