Drive solutions for a low-maintenance and quiet escape room experience

The company was founded as the first escape room in Bonn by Martina Gehlen. She recognised the potential of the increasingly popular game format back in 2014. Since then, groups of two to six players have been able to put their teamwork to the test in the 60 MINUTES escape rooms.

60 MINUTES was faced with the challenge of installing mechanisms in the latest room, "The Expedition", that would remain inconspicuous to the player and still reliably fulfil their tasks. It was essential that the components used were particularly quiet in order to preserve the immersive character of the adventure. In addition, the technology had to be maintenance-free and save space in order to make optimum use of the limited structural conditions of an escape room. Alternative technologies were unable to fulfil these requirements as they were either too loud, too large or too maintenance-intensive.

igus supplied complete solutions consisting of maintenance-free and low-noise components, motors and control systems. The drylin ZLW-1040 linear axis with polymer liners and toothed belt made of steel-reinforced polyurethane proved to be particularly suitable for overcoming challenges such as opening secret doors and coffin lids. It is driven by a NEMA24 stepper motor with encoder and the powerful D1 motor control system, which can be easily controlled via laptop, tablet or smartphone – without the need to install any software beforehand.

In the escape room's rotary table, the DLE-RT-50 rotary table ensures reliable rotary axis movements, while the SAW-0630 with motor and the D3 motor control system open a hidden secret chamber. All solutions are based on high-performance plastics that ensure lubrication-free dry operation and are quiet, cost-effective and low-maintenance.