Robe Footsie1 and 2

Since time immemorial, the illumination of figures or objects from below has been done with a variety of devices. From sunstrips, to floodlights, vapors or other wonders of the garland. Each of these solutions has its own advantages and disadvantages. It's not such an angle of illumination, it takes up too much space, it looks not aesthetically pleasing. Looking for suitable solutions, it can be said that there were no devices on the market that were created with such an idea in mind.

Here with help comes a new release from the Czech manufacturer - Robe Footsie. It is a luminaire which by its appearance resembles a cable raid, so it is not conspicuous, but offers many possibilities. From using it as a front from below, through effect lighting of objects, to illuminating hard-to-reach places.

General overview and optics

The device comes in three versions, where each has a different type of built-in LED chips. Models available are: 4W Warm White, Twin White (warm and cold) and 3W RGBW. The device additionally comes in two length variants, which each in turn has 24 (621mm) or 48 LEDs (1242mm).

The device has a light angle of 55°x50°, but additionally gives us the option of using Frost filters, which the manufacturer calls "Medium" and "Wide".

DMX control and NFC application

In the smaller version we get under control 2 zones, in the larger version 4 zones for individual control. The diode option with only white does not give us some super effect possibilities, but I looked at the manual from the RGBW version out of curiosity.

Of course, color control, lots of macro filters, zones as I mentioned and one interesting option. Namely, we can choose in the device whether we want to work in RGB mode, or the device itself should emulate CMY.  

One of the surprises is the NFC communication built into the device. With the dedicated app enabled, we can bring our phone that supports NFC (and I guess they all have it now) close to us. The app will then pop up a synced device and using a simple control panel on the phone, we can set the address and a ton of other device parameters.

Housing and accessories

The device itself, as I mentioned, looks like a cable raider, in addition, thanks to its design, it can also play this role! In the device we have a pocket into which we can fit cables. Admittedly, it is not as large as a standard invader, but it increases our usability.

The units can be easily connected to each other using interlocks. But also with the help of additional accessories such as curved corners available in 15°/30°/60°/90° variants, we can create shapes on the ground.

Alone or by itself? Footsi has an IP65 waterproof rating (which we wrote about here) and an IK06 mechanical protection class, which means this much: "drop of an object weighing 500g from a height of 20cm" or, if you prefer, resistance to an impact energy of 1J. How does this relate to reality? I don't know, I'm no physicist, but in the video they are running over a motorcycle....  

Summary

At first glance, that's it, the device seems to be decent, and as it's made for a specific task rather everything will agree. But as soon as there is an opportunity I will certainly check how it works in practice.

materials and photos: official website of the manufacturer