When we set out to design a new light, the brief sounded deceptively simple: make it robust, long-lasting, and waterproof. But as the project evolved—and as our clients pushed us further—that brief expanded dramatically. Waterproof became submersible. Durable became stage-ready for extreme environments. And a light became an entire system of new manufacturing methods, electronics, and testing processes.

What followed was not just a new product, but a fundamentally new way of building one.

Rethinking the Batten from First Principles

From the beginning, thermal performance was critical. High-power LEDs generate significant heat, and managing that heat reliably—especially in a sealed environment—meant we couldn’t rely on off-the-shelf solutions. We designed a custom heat sink specifically for the batten, allowing us to efficiently dissipate heat while maintaining a slim, linear form.

Our first generation batten was a high-output bi-colour fixture, delivering around 200 watts of warm and cool white light with excellent efficiency and colour quality. It proved the concept: a long, powerful, high-quality light source that could perform reliably in demanding environments.

Then our client asked for more.

From Bi-Colour to Full Pixel Control

For the Mark II batten, the requirements expanded significantly: colour, colour control, and pixel-level effects—without compromising light quality.

On an eight-foot fixture, this meant a major architectural shift. Instead of a single output, we divided the batten into 12 individual LED cards, each functioning as its own pixel. Every pixel is capable of producing red, green, blue, warm white, and cool white.

We deliberately retained dedicated warm and cool white emitters. While RGB can create white, dedicated white LEDs allow us to achieve significantly higher CRI and better spectral quality, which is critical for film and broadcast work.

Distributed Intelligence Inside a Sealed Fixture

Pixel control at high power introduces another challenge: control electronics.

Originally, control lived on the back of the unit. But once you scale to 12 independently controllable pixels, routing wiring from a remote controller becomes impractical—especially inside a slim, sealed, waterproof enclosure.

Our solution was radical but effective:

each pixel has its own onboard microcontroller.

Data is delivered over a shared bus, and each card locally controls its LEDs. This distributed approach dramatically simplified wiring, improved reliability, and made complex effects possible—all within a single batten powered and controlled through one combined data and power cable.

To ensure the lights perform flawlessly on camera, every colour channel on every pixel runs through a linear drive stage, delivering full flicker-free performance across a wide range of frame rates. The result is a light source that can be colour-controlled, animated, and submerged—without compromise.

Why Waterproof Wasn’t Enough

Originally, the batten was designed for outdoor use. But clients soon needed more: fixtures that could be fully submerged to 10 metres.

That single requirement forced a complete rethink of sealing, manufacturing, and quality assurance.

The weakest point in any waterproof system is the cable entry—the gland. Our original solution worked in theory but failed under pressure. Materials behaved differently, tolerances stacked up, and hand-applied seals simply weren’t repeatable enough.

So we did what we often do at EMP: we built our own solution.

Building the Machines to Build the Product

To achieve the reliability we needed, we developed an automated sealing machine in-house.

The batten uses a wet silicone-based seal, selected for resistance to UV, chlorine, and long-term environmental exposure. But applying that seal accurately over lengths of up to two metres required far more precision than a manual process—or even most off-the-shelf machines—could provide.

Leveraging our experience in motion control, we designed and built a bespoke system that:

• Dispenses a precisely controlled bead of sealant

• Applies it consistently over the full length of the fixture

• Integrates lens placement into the same controlled process

The result is a seal that is repeatable, reliable, and manufacturable at scale—all developed entirely in-house.

Testing Every Single Fixture

Designing a seal is only half the challenge. Proving it—every time—is the other.

Every batten we ship is individually pressure-tested to simulate 10 metres of submersion, equivalent to 1 bar of air pressure. We built a dedicated test rig that applies pressure externally while monitoring the internal pressure of the fixture. If the internal pressure remains stable over time, the seal passes.

To support production volumes, we created a multi-fixture testing system, allowing multiple battens to be tested simultaneously. No sampling. No assumptions. Every unit is verified before it leaves EMP Designs.

From Underwater to Main Stage

Interestingly, the batten’s submersible design unlocked unexpected advantages above water.

Its long, slim profile makes it ideal for crane-mounted and large-area stage lighting, especially in harsh conditions. Unlike traditional softboxes or sails, which become dangerous in high winds, the batten’s minimal surface area makes it far less susceptible to gusts.

The result is a fixture that thrives in heavy rain, wind, and extreme environments—whether it’s underwater, on a main stage, or suspended high above a film set.

Where the Idea Began

The original concept emerged, like many at EMP, through experimentation. We were exploring the idea of lights integrated into scaffolding structures—long, linear fixtures that could become part of the architecture itself.

When clients visited and saw these early ideas, they recognized an immediate need and pushed the concept in new directions. Environmental resistance, submersion, modular lengths, advanced control systems—each requirement reshaped the product.

That collaboration turned an internal experiment into what is now and common lighting feature on film sets.

Designing Beyond the Brief

At EMP, we’re often given extremely challenging requirements. This project pushed us to rethink not just the product, but how we manufacture, seal, test, and control it.

The result isn’t just a light—it’s a platform. One that’s scalable, adaptable, and engineered from the ground up to perform where others fail.

And for us, that’s exactly where design gets interesting.