Method and system for using dynamic boundaries to manage the progression of ride vehicles that have rider control inputs

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9937932-B2
Application number	US-201514680257-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 7, 2015
Priority date	Jul 8, 2013
Publication date	Apr 10, 2018
Grant date	Apr 10, 2018

Abstract

A method for controlling vehicle progression along a ride path of an amusement park ride. The method includes receiving inputs from a passenger of a vehicle on the ride path and processing the received inputs to determine a vehicle state change. The method includes determining a present or predicted vehicle state and comparing the present or predicted vehicle state with constraints defined by a dynamic boundary associated with the vehicle. The method includes issuing vehicle control commands to a drive assembly to implement the vehicle state change if it complies with the constraints. The dynamic boundary is moved logically along the ride path at a nominal to define a set of boundaries for movement of the vehicle along the ride path. The vehicle state change may be a change that causes the vehicle to travel at a speed differing from the dynamic boundary while remaining within the dynamic boundary.

First claim

We claim:

1. An amusement park ride, comprising:
a ride path;
a plurality of passenger vehicles adapted with an input device operable by a passenger; and
a controller comprising memory storing a dynamic boundary defining a set of boundaries for movement relative to the ride path for the passenger vehicles and a processor executing code causing the processor to determine for the passenger vehicles an allowable vehicle state based on the dynamic boundary, to process inputs from the input device to determine a passenger-desired vehicle state change, and to issue vehicle control commands to control operation of the passenger vehicle by processing the passenger-desired vehicle state change to comply with the allowable vehicle state,
wherein the dynamic boundary is moved by the controller along the ride path at one or more predefined nominal speeds,
wherein the allowable vehicle state comprises a range of positions within the set of boundaries defined by the dynamic boundary, and
wherein the vehicle control commands provide movement from a first position within the dynamic boundary to a second position within the dynamic boundary differing from the first position, whereby the passenger vehicles are nearer to or farther away from a boundary defined by the set of boundaries when in the second position than when in the first position.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein a space defined by the set of boundaries has a first configuration at a first location on the ride path and a second configuration at first and second positions on the ride path and wherein the space in the first configuration has a size or shape differing from the space in the second configuration, whereby the size or the shape of the space is defined for the passenger vehicles based on a vehicle position on the ride path.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the passenger-desired vehicle state change comprises a change in speed of the vehicle along the ride path and wherein the vehicle control commands affect control over a vehicle propulsion drive to cause a speed of the vehicle to be increased or decreased from a current speed while retaining the vehicle within the set of boundaries.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the dynamic boundary defines a range of allowable vehicle speeds for the passenger vehicle based on a current location of the passenger vehicle within the set of boundaries and wherein the range of allowable vehicle speeds includes speeds greater than and less than the one or more predefined nominal speeds for the dynamic boundary at a particular location on the ride path.

5. An amusement park ride, comprising:
a ride path;
a plurality of passenger vehicles adapted with an input device operable by a passenger; and
a controller comprising memory storing a dynamic boundary for the passenger vehicles and a processor executing code causing the processor to determine for the passenger vehicles an allowable vehicle state based on the dynamic boundary, to process inputs from the input device to determine a passenger-desired vehicle state change, and to issue vehicle control commands to control operation of the passenger vehicle by processing the passenger-desired vehicle state change to comply with the allowable vehicle state,
wherein the dynamic boundary is moved by the controller along the ride path at one or more predefined nominal speeds during operations of the amusement park ride,
wherein the allowable vehicle state comprises a range of positions within a set of boundaries defined by the dynamic boundary, each position within the range of positions defining a differing location for one of the passenger vehicles relative to the set of boundaries to allow the passenger vehicles to move about a space defined by the set of boundaries from a first position to a second position within the dynamic boundary as the dynamic boundary is moved by the controller, and
wherein the set of boundaries has a shape or size that differs for at least two portions of the ride path.

6. The system of claim 5 , wherein the vehicle control commands provide movement from a current position within a space defined by the set of boundaries to a new position within the space.

7. The system of claim 5 , wherein the passenger-desired vehicle state change comprises a change in speed of the vehicle along the ride path.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the vehicle control commands affect control over a vehicle propulsion drive to cause a speed of the vehicle to be increased or decreased from a current speed while retaining the vehicle within a space defined by the set of boundaries for the passenger vehicle along the ride path.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein the dynamic boundary defines a range of allowable vehicle speeds for the passenger vehicle based on the position within the range of positions of the passenger vehicle within the space.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the range of allowable vehicle speeds includes speeds greater than and less than a nominal speed for the dynamic boundary over the ride path.

11. An amusement park ride, comprising:
a plurality of passenger vehicles adapted with an input device operable by a passenger; and
a controller comprising memory storing a dynamic boundary for the passenger vehicles and a processor executing code causing the processor to determine for the passenger vehicles an allowable vehicle state based on the dynamic boundary, to process inputs from the input device to determine a passenger-desired vehicle state change, and to issue vehicle control commands to control operation of the passenger vehicle by processing the passenger-desired vehicle state change to comply with the allowable vehicle state,
wherein a space defined by a set of boundaries defined by the dynamic boundary varies in size and shape based on location of an individual one of the passenger vehicles along a ride path of the amusement park ride,
wherein the passenger-desired vehicle state change comprises a change in speed of the vehicle along the ride path,
wherein the allowable vehicle state comprises a range of positions within the space, and
wherein the vehicle control commands provide movement from a current position to a new position within the space enclosed by the set of boundaries as the dynamic boundary is moved by the controller along the ride path at one or more predefined nominal speeds, whereby each of the passenger vehicles is movable within the space via the user input device to move closer to and farther away from one or more boundary in the set of boundaries.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the vehicle control commands affect control over a vehicle propulsion drive to cause a speed of the vehicle to be increased or decreased from a current speed while retaining the vehicle within the space defined by the set of boundaries.

13. The system of claim 12 , wherein the dynamic boundary defines a range of allowable vehicle speeds for the passenger vehicle based on a current location of the passenger vehicle within the space defined by the set of boundaries.

14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the range of allowable vehicle speeds includes speeds greater than and less than a nominal speed for the dynamic boundary over the ride path.

Assignees

• Disney Entpr Inc

Inventors

• Nemeth Edward A
• Baker Paul E
• Trowbridge Robert Scott

Classifications

• G05D1/0289

  with means for avoiding collisions between vehicles (vehicle fittings for automatically controlling speed including means for detecting potential obstacles B60K31/0008; avoiding obstacles by action on the steering system B62D; radar, sonar, lidar systems designed for anti-collision purposes G01S13/93, G01S15/93, G01S17/93) · CPC title

• B61B13/00 Primary

  Other railway systems · CPC title

• A63G25/00 Primary

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