Systems and methods for controlling the transportation of vehicles

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10162350-B2
Application number	US-201414482975-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 10, 2014
Priority date	Sep 10, 2014
Publication date	Dec 25, 2018
Grant date	Dec 25, 2018

Abstract

A system may include a plurality of grid elements, an analytic system, and a control system. The plurality of grid elements are installed in a dynamic driving area in an attraction and are configured to perform based on command instructions received from the control system to control the movement of a vehicle disposed on the plurality of grid elements. The analytic system may be configured to track, via one or more sensors, vehicle information and to send the vehicle information to the control system via a communication module, and the control system may be configured to receive the vehicle information, to determine, via one or more processors, which of the grid elements to actuate and a corresponding manner of actuation based on a desired movement of the vehicle, and to send command instructions including performance data to each of the grid elements identified for actuation.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A system, comprising:
a plurality of grid elements;
an analytic system; and
a control system,
wherein the plurality of grid elements are each independently addressed by the control system and are each installed in a dynamic driving area in an attraction, wherein the plurality of grid elements are each configured to move relative to a surface of the dynamic driving area and independently of one another to control movement of a vehicle disposed on the surface of the dynamic driving area based on command instructions received from the control system, wherein the command instructions cause a subset of the plurality of grid elements to actuate to change a trajectory of the vehicle to control the movement of the vehicle along the surface of the dynamic driving area, wherein a vertical actuator of each of the plurality of grid elements is configured to cause a portion of an individual grid element to extend above the surface and another portion of the individual grid element to remain below the surface of the dynamic driving area, and wherein each of the plurality of grid elements is configured to rotate a corresponding movement control unit based on a planar direction and an angular velocity of a driven wheel at a determined actuation time;
wherein the analytic system is configured to track, via one or more sensors, vehicle information comprising a position, a size, a velocity, an acceleration, or any combination thereof, of the vehicle, and to send the vehicle information to the control system via a communication system; and
wherein the control system is configured to receive the vehicle information, to determine, via one or more processors, the subset of the plurality of grid elements to actuate and a corresponding manner of actuation based on the vehicle information of the vehicle, and to send the command instructions to each individual grid element of the subset of the plurality of grid elements determined for actuation.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein each grid element of the plurality of grid elements comprises the corresponding movement control unit and the vertical actuator, wherein each of the corresponding movement control units is configured to extend through a respective opening on the surface of the dynamic driving area based on actuation of each corresponding vertical actuator to control the movement of the vehicle along the surface of the dynamic driving area.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein each grid element of the plurality of grid elements comprises:
the corresponding movement control unit at least partially extending or configured to extend through a respective opening in the surface of the dynamic driving area and a rotation configuration unit to control the movement of the vehicle; and
a portion of the surface through which each of the corresponding movement control units vertically extends or is configured to extend, wherein the portion of the surface is configured to rotate in the planar direction with the corresponding movement control unit and the rotation configuration unit is configured to rotate the corresponding movement control unit about an axis substantially transverse with respect to the planar direction.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein each of the grid elements of the plurality of grid elements comprises the corresponding movement control unit with an upper portion extending through the surface of the dynamic driving area and aligned with an upper portion of the surface.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein each of the plurality of grid elements comprises the corresponding movement control unit configured to extend through a respective opening on the surface, a rotation configuration unit configured to rotate the corresponding movement control unit at an angular speed, and a direction configuration unit configured to turn the corresponding movement control unit into alignment with the planar direction.

6. The system of claim 1 , comprising additional grid elements, wherein the control system is configured to control each grid element of the plurality of grid elements independently and the control system is configured to control the additional grid elements together as a set.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle comprises a motor and one or more vehicle wheels comprising the drive wheel configured to rotate based on the movement of the vehicle, wherein the plurality of grid elements comprise the corresponding movement control units that comprise grid element wheels driven by respective motors of the grid elements and configured to engage with the one or more vehicle wheels to control the movement of the vehicle.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle is one of a plurality of vehicles disposed on the dynamic driving area, wherein the command instructions cause the subset of the plurality of grid elements to actuate to change a respective trajectory of a subset of the plurality of vehicle to control movement of the subset of the plurality of vehicles.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle comprises a reaction plate and each grid element of the plurality of grid elements comprises a linear coil.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the vehicle comprises a position tracking system and the communication system, wherein the position tracking system comprises the one or more sensors configured to track the vehicle's position in the dynamic driving area and the communication system is configured to communicate the vehicle's position to the control system.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein each grid element of the plurality of grid elements comprises the corresponding movement control unit comprising a grid element wheel driven by a motor, wherein the grid element wheel is configured to engage the vehicle and control rotational speed, rotational direction, and angular direction of one or more wheels of the vehicle, thereby controlling the movement of the vehicle.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein the dynamic driving area comprises dynamic portions, and wherein the plurality of grid elements are installed to control the movement of the vehicle and non-dynamic portions where the plurality of grid elements are not installed and the vehicle controls its own movement.

13. The system of claim 1 , wherein the command instructions comprise an angular speed at which a rotation configuration unit corresponding to each grid element of the plurality of grid elements rotates the corresponding movement control unit corresponding to each grid element of the plurality of grid elements, a direction in which the rotation configuration unit rotates the corresponding movement control unit, a planar position angle that a direction configuration unit corresponding to each grid element of the plurality of grid elements positions the corresponding movement control unit in, a time to actuate, or some combination thereof.

14. The system of claim 1 , wherein each individual grid element of the plurality of grid elements comprises the vertical actuator configured to cause movement of the individual grid element between an extended position and a recessed position relative to an opening in the surface of the dynamic driving area.

15. The system of claim 1 , wherein the command instructions are configured to cause to a first grid element of the subset to actuate in a first manner and a second grid element of the subset to actuate in a second manner different from the first manner.

16. The system of claim 15 , wherein the command instructions cause the first grid element to be oriented at a different angle relative to the second grid element.

Assignees

• Universal City Studios Llc

Inventors

• Kawash Sameer
• Kiddoo Michael R
• Parr Eric

Classifications

• A63G25/00 Primary

  Autocar-like self-drivers; Runways therefor · CPC title

• G05D2201/0214

  Physics · mapped topic

• G05D1/0027 Primary

  involving a plurality of vehicles, e.g. fleet or convoy travelling (fleet control of land vehicles from a control room G05D1/0297; traffic control systems for road vehicles G08G1/00; for marine craft G08G3/00; for aircraft G08G5/00) · CPC title

• G05D1/0297 Primary

  by controlling means in a control room · CPC title

• G05D1/692

  involving a plurality of disparate vehicles · CPC title