Patent Grant
8117968
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to roller coasters and other amusement park rides, and, more particularly, to systems and methods for selectively and accurately controlling the speed and, thereby, the energy of cars or vehicles carrying passengers in an amusement park ride at specific locations such as during a show portion of the ride in which visual and/or audio effects are provided as part of the ride experience or to control the overall energy of the vehicle to ensure consistent and safe system performance.
2. Relevant Background
Amusement parks continue to be popular worldwide with hundreds of millions of people visiting the parks each year. Park operators continuously seek new designs for extreme or thrill rides because these rides attract large numbers of people to their parks each year, and roller coasters and other thrill rides provide numerous twists, turns, drops, and loops at high speeds. However, in addition to high-speed or thrill portions of rides, many rides incorporate a slower portion or segment to their rides to allow them to provide a “show” in which animation, movies, three-dimensional (3D) effects and displays, audio, and other effects are presented as vehicles proceed through such show portions. The show portions of rides are often run or started upon sensing the presence of a vehicle and are typically designed to be most effective when the vehicle travels through the show portion at a particular speed.
For example, a roller coaster may be designed such that in a show portion dinosaurs attack the vehicles, meteors fly toward the passengers, animatronic figures perform, and the like. The show may be designed based on the anticipated speed of the vehicle after it enters the show portion such that an effect such as 3D “attack” on the vehicle occurs precisely when the vehicle is adjacent to a portion of the display screens, speakers, and/or other show equipment. Some 3D imagery is achieved with a screen that rotates with the passing vehicle to maintain the desired effect and such rotation requires that the vehicle be traveling at a known speed. Other rides are designed such that the show includes jets, streams, and other water effects that require knowledge of vehicle position and speed to achieve desired effects such as water passing near passengers without striking the passengers or vehicle. Other rides are used to tell stories, and it is desirable to control the speed or pace of the vehicles during show sections of the ride so the passengers can enjoy the set, which may include special effects that are sensitive to or synchronized to vehicle speed (e.g., a multimedia presentation may actually be intentionally distorted such that it appears normal to passengers in a vehicle when the vehicle is moving at a particular speed but when the vehicle is moving too fast or too slow the distortion may be seen). Ride designers or engineers are given the task of producing unique and more exciting rides that mix thrill and show portions in which both portions of the ride are effective while also providing rides that are less costly to operate and maintain.
To date, controlling speed of vehicles in amusement rides to the degree of accuracy demanded by show designers has proven difficult especially in the case of roller coasters. A roller coaster is made up of a number of cars or vehicles that are connected like a passenger train, but roller coasters are typically not self-powered. Instead, for most of the ride, the train or vehicles are moved by gravity and momentum. To build up potential energy, a chain or cable is used to lift the train to a first peak or lift hill and the train is released with its potential energy becoming kinetic energy as the train accelerates to a high velocity in the first downward slope. The initial potential energy is enough to complete the entire track or course of the ride, and the train is stopped by mechanical or magnetic brakes that remove any remaining kinetic energy. In some cases, the train is set in motion by a launch mechanism such as a flywheel launch, a linear induction motor (LIM), a linear synchronous motor (LSM), a hydraulic launch, and the like that apply a force to the captured train to rapidly bring the train up to a kinetic energy or velocity that allows the train to complete the entire ride.
Mechanical systems called pacers are used by ride designers to adjust the speed of roller coaster trains or vehicles for the primary purpose of controlling the energy in the system. The pacer can speed up a slow vehicle or slow down a fast vehicle to provide more consistent and safe performance of the ride system. Pacers can also be used in show portions or sections of the ride course or track to control the speed of a vehicle through a specific scene in order to achieve a desired experience. Mechanical pacers typically include a number of wheels driven by motors at a certain velocity. Tires on the spinning wheels contact the vehicles (e.g., pinch a fin on the bottom of the vehicle), and the physical contact or friction forces cause the vehicle to slow down by removing kinetic energy or speed up by adding kinetic energy (e.g., slow to a speed or velocity in a range at or approaching the velocity of spinning wheels or speed up). In some cases, potential or kinetic energy is added after the mechanical pacer so that the train can complete the course. Potential energy may be provided by again mechanically lifting the train up a second lift hill or kinetic energy may be added through re-launching such as by using a LIM or LSM to capture the train and then apply a magnetic force to the train in the direction it is traveling to accelerate the vehicle to a desired launch speed.
While the train of vehicles generally will slow down or speed up to a velocity at or near the velocity of the spinning wheels, there are a number of problems with using mechanical pacers for rides that include a show portion. Mechanical pacers rely on physical contact, such as between spinning tires (e.g., rubber tires or the like) and a metal fin, to slow or speed up the vehicles, and the contact causes wear that leads to ongoing maintenance including part replacement. This increases costs associated with using a mechanical pacer as its life cycle is reduced especially on rides that experience a high duty cycle (e.g., many cars per hour). The wear also results in the performance of the mechanical pacer varying over time, which causes the performance of the pacer to change such that vehicles may be slowed or sped up less as the pacer experiences wear causing the velocity to be higher or lower than desired during a show portion of a ride. Mechanical pacers also require a large space for mounting of the motors, wheels, and other components. Further, maintenance of a particular pacer unit may require that the unit be lowered into a pit provided under the ride, and such pits also are costly to build and use valuable real estate in the design of a ride. Further, mechanical pacers are typically only useful in relatively long flat and straight sections of track that allow for the fin and friction wheels to properly engage and allow for the large size of the pacer units. Hence, the use of mechanical pacers reduces the freedom of a ride designer because show portions can typically only be provided in straight portions of the ride, and the ride designer also has to build long straight sections of track into the ride rather than providing a ride just with curves or with more curves, which may be desirable for creating unique ride experiences and is also useful for fully utilizing available space or real estate.
Additionally, mechanical pacers operate at one speed with each contacting tire being spun at the same rate, but the vehicles enter the mechanical pacers at a range of speeds. On a roller coaster ride, there are often a number of trains that are run sequentially but spaced apart. While following the same course, each of these trains (e.g., set of cars or vehicles) likely will complete the course in a different amount of time due to differences in the vehicles and due to varying weight of the passengers. Further, the same train typically will likely travel at different velocities each time it travels through the ride due to changes in the passenger make up and other variables. As can be seen, parameters such as temperature, wheel and track wear, train weight, passenger weight, wind, rain, and the like can alter the speed at which a train proceeds through a roller coaster coarse, and as a result, the speed at which the train enters the mechanical pacer varies. For example, a mechanical pacer relies wholly on friction to adjust a speed of a train, and the ride may actually have to be shutdown during periods of rain as the friction is reduced below a minimum value, and the ability of the mechanical pacer to accurately control speed is significantly reduced as the friction applied varies from its design value. The mechanical pacer, however, continues to operate at its one set pace or operating speed as it is essentially a dumb system with a single setting, and this results in a range of train speeds being produced by the mechanical pacer as trains with higher entry velocities exiting at higher velocities than trains with lower entry velocities. As a result, the show experience of the passengers is not consistent and may be different each time a passenger gets on a ride.
Hence, there remains a need for improved pacers for controlling the speed of vehicles or cars of amusement park rides such as roller coasters. Preferably, such pacers would be effective for controlling the speed/energy of vehicles throughout the ride cycle as well as in specific show portions of the ride within an acceptable range about a goal velocity or show design velocity while being relatively inexpensive to implement and maintain. Additionally, it is desirable that the pacer be useful in applications for which mechanical pacers are not well suited such as in sloped and curved sections of track such that the show portions of a ride are not limited to flat, straight sections.
The present invention addresses the above problems by providing magnetic pacer assemblies and methods for use in amusement park rides and other vehicle movement applications to provide accurate and touch less control of a vehicle's speed. For example, many amusement park rides are designed to include a thrill portion and a show portion. The magnetic pacer assemblies would be used to adjust speed of a vehicle by determining a velocity of the vehicle, comparing the velocity to a desired velocity (or velocity range), determining a thrust to decelerate or to accelerate the vehicle, and operating a magnetic thruster or propulsion device such as one or more linear synchronous motors (LSMs) to generate a magnetic force that is applied to a magnet array provided on the vehicle. In this manner, the magnetic pacer assembly acts as an intelligent pacer that dynamically controls the speed of a vehicle in a section of track in order to ensure proper system performance or within a show portion of a ride so as to allow multi-media show elements to be synchronized closely with the traveling vehicle.
In contrast to launch devices that apply full thrust in a single direction, the magnetic pacer assemblies of the invention generally apply discrete magnetic forces to a vehicle in either direction as needed as it travels over or adjacent a magnetic thruster to try to slow or speed a vehicle whereas launch devices rapidly propel a fully captured or controlled vehicle rapidly to impart kinetic energy to the vehicle. The pacers of the invention may provide feedback control over the length of the pacer by taking additional velocity measurements and applying additional deceleration or acceleration magnetic forces to the vehicle's magnet array, and the additional forces may be in the same or a different direction than initial or previously-applied forces (e.g., a vehicle that is initially slowed may later have to be accelerated to remain within a desired velocity range). In some embodiments, the use of the pacer is to control the energy of individual vehicles and to ensure consistent, safe, and reliable performance of a ride system as a whole. For example, a vehicle moving too slowly may not make it over a steep hill while a vehicle moving too fast could damage brakes or other equipment. The pacers described herein are useful for controlling vehicle energy such as by tuning the vehicle speed, such as on long coasters, to ensure the ride system and its vehicles operate in an expected way or at a nominal velocity/energy baseline. Another use of the pacers is to control the speed of one or more vehicles in a show scene or show portion of the track to provide a desired guest experience (e.g., pace the vehicles to suit a displayed show scene that may include 2D and 3D multimedia).
More particularly, a method is provided for pacing a vehicle, such as a roller coaster train or cars of such a train or other vehicles used in amusement park rides. The method includes providing a controller such as hardware and software components that have stored speed settings in memory for the vehicle within a portion of the ride, e.g., upper and lower speed limits for a show portion of a ride or engineered speed targets at various locations of the ride for which the system has been designed. A magnetic thruster is positioned near the portion of the ride, and the thruster typically includes one or more position sensors that are linked to the controllers. The method continues with a signal or signals being sent from the sensors to the controller, and the controller responding by determining a velocity of the vehicle as it travels along a direction of travel in the portion of ride for which pacing is desired. The controller further acts to compare the determined vehicle velocity with the stored speed settings (such as with upper and lower bounds or trigger points defining an acceptable velocity range for the ride portion). The method continues with determining a magnetic force to apply to the vehicle based on the comparing. Then, the magnetic thruster is selectively operated (e.g., not continuously operated as is the case with mechanical pacers) to generate the selected magnetic force, which acts upon a magnet array on the vehicle to pace the vehicle.
In some embodiments, the determination of the magnetic forces to apply includes determining which direction the force should be applied relative to the direction of travel of the vehicle such that the applied magnetic force is a decelerating force or an accelerating force applied to the vehicle. For example, the magnetic force may be decelerating (with its direction being opposite or at least transverse to the direction of travel to repel or resist the vehicle) when the determined velocity exceeds an upper speed bound or trigger defined in the stored speed parameters. In contrast, the determined velocity may be less than a lower speed bound or trigger, and the magnetic force may then be selected to propel or accelerate the vehicle along its direction of travel.
In some cases, the magnetic thruster is one or more linear synchronous motor (LSM) and the operating of the thruster or LSM comprises operating the LSM such that it applies a force or generates a field that is useful for decelerating or accelerating the vehicle in the portion of the ride based on the determined velocity. The use of an LSM or other magnetic thruster may be desirable such that when the vehicle travels upon a track (such as a roller coaster) the track may be curved and/or inclined in the portion of the ride rather than having to be flat and straight as is the case with mechanical pacers. The magnetic thrusters typically do not capture the vehicle (i.e., remove all of their kinetic energy or momentum). In this regard, the method may be performed such that the vehicle is coasting at the determined velocity as it enters the portion of the ride (or soon thereafter) along the direction of travel, and after the magnetic thruster applies the magnetic force the vehicle continues to coast at a velocity that is greater than zero and, preferably, that is within a velocity range defined by the stored speed settings for the ride portion.
The determination of velocity of the vehicle may be determined in a repeated manner, and the controller may determine that based on a comparison of these additional velocity measurements that additional magnetic forces should be applied to pace the vehicle. Hence, additional magnetic forces may be generated using the magnetic thruster to maintain the vehicle within a velocity range defined in the speed settings and at least some of these magnetic forces will likely differ in magnitude and/or direction from the originally-applied magnetic force (e.g., the first force may act to decelerate the vehicle while a second force may act to accelerate the vehicle when the vehicle slows to a velocity out of a desired range). In this manner, the magnetic thruster operates to achieve its function or goal of achieving and maintaining a desired vehicle speed.
Briefly, embodiments of the present invention are directed to methods and systems for pacing or controlling the speed of vehicles or cars in amusement park rides. Particularly, the present invention provides a magnetic pacer assembly and methods of using such an assembly to provide a non-contact or “touch less” mechanism for selectively and accurately applying a thrust to slow or to accelerate a vehicle or car during operation of a ride to achieve a speed or velocity within an acceptable range (e.g., an acceptable velocity band for a ride such as for a show portion of the ride). Generally, magnetic forces are applied in or along the direction of travel (“DOT”) such as with a magnetic thruster (e.g., a LSM, a LIM, or the like) to propel the car or opposite the DOT to resist its travel and reduce its momentum.
For example, the design of a roller coaster involves the need to adjust the train speed as it moves about the track. There are speed variations due to many factors including train weight, passenger loading, temperature, wheel wear, and the like. To ensure the coaster operates within the design parameters, these speed variations preferably are corrected or controlled to allow for optimum vehicle spacing and performance. Additionally, many roller coasters are designed to include a show portion (or dark ride portion) in which visual, auditory, and other effects can be presented such as with a multi-media show system to enhance the riders' experiences such as by providing greater ride variation through storytelling and other techniques. Embodiments of the invention use a linear synchronous motor (LSM) or other magnetic thruster as part of a magnetic pacer assembly to provide speed corrections in the show or flat portions of the ride, and these speed controls include determining the initial speed or velocity of the train or vehicles of a ride as it enters the pacer area of the ride (e.g., enters a flat portion of the track or another portion of the track near a show system). Based on this determined speed, resistive or propulsive forces are applied to magnets, magnet arrays, or reaction plates mounted on the vehicles with magnetic thrusters (or magnetic propulsion devices) positioned adjacent to the track in the pacer area (e.g., off-board on the track) that are controlled and powered to adjust the direction of the magnetic field, the timing of the application of such magnetic forces (attracting or repulsing), and, in some cases, the magnitude of the generated magnetic fields.
Prior pacers for amusement park rides were mechanical systems that relied upon contact and friction forces to adjust the speed for roller coaster trains and other ride vehicles. Mechanical pacers typically include a set of wheels on the track that have to engage or pinch a fin on the vehicle to slow the vehicle. The wheels are spun at a fixed velocity, and tires on the wheels contact the fin (e.g., tires formed of rubber, plastic, or other material for use in braking). In the pacer, the vehicles are slowed toward the speed at which the wheels are rotated. However, the mechanical systems are imprecise and are not able to control or adjust the speed to a very tight velocity range or band, which may be preferred for many show designs such as video that is adapted such as through distortion to match the design or goal velocity of a train or vehicle on the corresponding show portion of the track. The effectiveness of the mechanical system can vary with wear of the mechanical components such as the tires and wheel bearing and can vary with weather such as when friction is reduced during rain. Further, mechanical pacers are only useful in flat sections of the track where full engagement between the wheels and the fins is possible and in straight sections of the track as their large size limits mounting in tight corners.
In contrast, and as discussed in detail below, the magnetic pacer assemblies of the present invention provide a touch free and low maintenance system for controlling a roller coaster train or ride vehicle's speed. Portions of these assemblies can be fitted in flat stretches of track and also in flat and compound curves and sloped sections of track, which allows ride designers more freedom in creating interesting tracks and rides with unique mixes of thrill and show. With regard to operating costs, mechanical pacers have motors that run continuously at a particular speed whereas the magnetic thrusters of embodiments of the invention are typically only energized as needed to adjust speed and, for this and other reasons, are more energy efficient, have few moving parts, and require less frequent maintenance.
To provide speed control, the system 100 includes a magnetic pacer assembly 130. The magnetic pacer assembly 130 includes magnet arrays 138 mounted to the vehicles 114 such as on the bottom frame of at least the lead car or cars 114, on every other car 114, or, in some cases, on every car 114 of the train 112. The magnet arrays 138 may include one permanent magnet or, more commonly, multiple magnets arranged linearly along a portion of the vehicle 114 so as to be near but spaced apart from the track (e.g., no contact). The magnetic array 138 provides the reaction surface for magnetic forces that are generated selectively (e.g., not typically continuously) by one or more magnetic thrusters 132, which are attached via mounts 134 to the track 110 or otherwise positioned near the track 110.
The magnetic thrusters 132 are controlled and powered to generate magnetic forces 136 either opposite the DOT 120 to decelerate the train 112 or in the DOT 120 to propel the train 112. The magnetic thrusters 132 are mounted, in the illustrated embodiment, to the track 110 such that they are provided in a plane that is substantially parallel to a plane containing the magnet arrays 138 on the vehicles 114, and the magnetic thrusters 132 are typically also mounted via mounts 134 to be proximate to the magnet arrays 138 as the vehicles 114 pass over the thrusters 132. In some cases, the thrusters 132 will hang below the track 110 as shown to be below the wheels 116 riding on the bottom of the track 110. In other cases, the thrusters 132 may be mounted to be inside the wheels 116 and may be between the tracks 110 or even extend above the tracks 110 toward the arrays 138 but still leaving a space or gap between the thrusters 132 and the magnet arrays 138 (and other components of the vehicles 114).
The magnetic thrusters 132 or other components (not shown in
The train 112 is typically not captured such that the pacer assembly 130 has to provide all motive force but instead the magnetic forces 136 are applied in a discrete manner to increase or decrease the kinetic energy of the train 112 as it travels over the magnetic thrusters 132, which differs from launch systems in which a vehicle or train is fully captured by the launch mechanism and then quickly accelerated. Another difference with launch systems, as explained with reference to
In some embodiments, the magnetic pacer assemblies of the invention may be utilized to power a vehicle or car in larger portions of the ride. For example, it may be desirable for an amusement park ride control system 200 to be provided as shown in
In general, each of the magnetic thrusters 132 and 232 is formed using an electromagnet or series of electromagnets that are selectively powered to develop the magnetic force 136, 236 that controls the speed of the vehicles of a ride. Magnetic-based thrusters 132, 232 are desirable for a number of reasons including reduced maintenance as the propulsion does not require contact and has significantly fewer/no moving, wear, or replacement parts, reduced space requirements as the systems are much smaller in size, ability to use in sloped and corners of a track since contact is not required and because of their size and somewhat flexible geometrical configuration, and control features. The control features allow the forces 136, 236 to be rapidly changed from one direction to another (such as by switching polarity) to decelerate a vehicle or to accelerate a vehicle whereas mechanical pacers are run in one direction. The control features also typically allow the thrusters 132, 232 to only be operated when needed such as when a vehicle is adjacent the thruster 132, 232 and a speed determination indicates that the velocity needs to be modified (e.g., the car velocity is out of a design speed band or is greater or less than trigger values for operating the thrusters 132, 232). In some embodiments, the amount of force 136, 236 is also variable such that a thruster 132, 232 can be used to apply a force 136, 236 of a magnitude that is selected based on the determined speed of the vehicle such as a greater force when the vehicle significantly differs from a velocity target or a lesser force when the vehicle only slightly differs from the desired velocity range.
The magnet array and magnetic thruster may both vary significantly to practice the invention, and it is believed that those skilled in the art will readily understand how to implement these components of the invention. For example, in some cases, the magnetic thrusters 132, 232 are linear induction motors (LIMs) or linear synchronous motors (LSMs) because both of these magnetic thrusting technologies are well developed and understood and both well-suited for providing the level of control over magnetic thrust forces applied to an amusement park ride vehicle as described herein. A linear motor such as an LIM or LSM is generally an AC electric motor with a linear or unrolled stator so that instead of producing a torque it produces a linear force (such as forces 136, 236) along its length (e.g., Lspacer) that is proportional to the current and the magnetic field. LIMs are thought of as high-acceleration motors and have an active three-phase winding on one side of the air gap (e.g., the thruster 132, 232) and a passive conductor plate on the other side (e.g. metal fins used for magnet array 138, 238). LSMs are, in contrast, considered low-acceleration, high speed and power motors that have an active winding on one side of the air gap (e.g., the thruster 132, 232) and an array of alternate-pole magnets (e.g., the magnet array 138, 238, which may be permanent magnets or energized magnets) on the other side of the air gap.
While LIMs and other magnetic thrusters may be utilized, the following discussion provides more detail of use of LSMs in the magnetic pacer assemblies 130, 230 for ease of explanation (with much of the control detail being equally applicable to LIMs) and because it is presently believed that LSMs present a desirable implementation. LSMs are synchronized in that the magnetic thrusters 132, 232 are energized with a synchronized pulse such that its electromagnets are turned on and off in sequence to decelerate or accelerate (e.g., generate magnetic forces 136, 236) when the armature magnets of the thrusters 132, 232 (e.g., the long stator in the guideway off board) are properly positioned between or offset from like magnetic poles in the magnet arrays 138, 238 (e.g., to be attracted to opposite polarity magnets or to repel like polarity magnets as desired to propel or resist travel). In other words, synchronous means the speed of the vehicle typically is related to the frequency of the motor excitation of the thrusters 132, 232, and the currents in the stator coils (not shown) of the thrusters 132, 232 are synchronized with the vehicle or car's position and its velocity. In operation, the thrusters 132, 232 create a moving magnetic field in the vicinity of the vehicle that travels in a direction generally along or coinciding with the DOT 130, 230 or opposite the DOT 130, 230 to achieve a desired effect.
Embodiments of the magnetic pacer assemblies 130, 230 may include components presently distributed or on the market. For example, the thrusters 132, 232 may be LSM such as an LSM available from companies such as MagneMotion, Inc. of Acton, Massachusetts, USA (e.g., an LSM from the QuickStick™ line of LSMs or LSM systems). Similarly, the power and control components (such as position sensing devices) may be provided by companies in the magnetic drive industry such as MagneMotion, Inc., but, of course, these components would be configured to operate according to the control processes of the present invention and for use in the particular arrangements taught herein for adjusting speed of amusement park rides (e.g., without full capture as in the case of a launch and, in some cases, incrementally based on a measured velocity that is compared with a goal velocity or a bounding range about such goal velocity). Some available LSM products are provided in a package that can be used as or as part of the thrusters of the invention and may include a stator package (e.g., about 1 meter or more in length) that includes the equipment necessary to generate a magnetic field and to measure the speed and position of a vehicle. These stator packages can be installed on or near a track or guideway end-to-end. In some cases, each stator package may be provided with an external power source and may be connected via a serial communications line to an upstream and/or downstream position of the stator package.
For example, a series of magnetic thrusters (e.g., LSMs, LIMs, or the like) may be powered by a power supply via a power cable attached to the thrusters and the power may be provided in a controlled manner (e.g., timing of on/off based on determined velocities of adjacent vehicle, direction of magnetic field selected based on velocity, and, in some cases, amount of power controlled based on variance from a target or trigger velocity value). A communications line typically will also be provided to provide control signals from a controller (e.g., a combination of software and hardware such as a CPU, memory, and the like) and to provide sensor signals from sensors (e.g., position sensors) provided in or near the thrusters to the controller. The controller may use the position signals to synchronize operation of the thruster, and the controller uses the position signals to determine the velocity of the vehicle. This determined velocity is then compared to a target velocity and/or against minimum and maximum trigger values bounding this target velocity to determine whether a magnetic force should be applied to the vehicle (i.e., whether the thruster should be operated to adjust the vehicle velocity) and, if so, which direction and, in some cases, which magnitude to apply the force (i.e., as a propulsion force or as a resistive or braking force).
Proper control of the pacer assembly 130, 230 can be achieved with position sensing equipment provided as part of the thrusters 132, 232 and preferably the sensing and signal transmission systems will have high precision and reliability as synchronization is essential to an LSM. Control may be achieved in part with position sensing devices that when a vehicle passes over or near provide a signal, such as an electrical pulse, to position and/or velocity control modules of a control processor of the magnetic pacer assembly. The position sensor may be any of a number of sensors useful for determining position such as those based on electrical current, optics, magnetic flux sensor, radio signal sensor, or even mechanical-based position sensors. For example, position sensing may be accurately performed (and, in some cases, integrated into the magnetic thruster such as an LSM module) as taught in one of the following, each of which are incorporated herein in their entirety: U.S. Pat. No. 6,011,508 to Perreault; U.S. Pat. No. 6,983,701 to Thornton; U.S. Pat. No. 6,781,524 to Clark; U.S. Pat. No. 4,381,478 to Saijo; U.S. Pat. No. 5,605,100 to Morris; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,499,701 to Thornton. In addition to position sensing, these issued patents teach communication and control processes and components that may be useful in part or in whole in some embodiments of the present invention when adapted for use in the systems and control processes taught herein, and these references are incorporated herein for their teaching regarding control and communications within magnetic drive systems such systems using LIMs, LSMs, and the like for propulsion systems.
As shown, a series of position sensors 333 are provided as an integral part of the thruster 332 but may also be positioned near the magnetic propulsive device 332. Typically, it is desirable for the sensors 333 to be positioned adjacent the thruster 332 such that the determined velocity for the vehicle corresponds to the section of track where the thruster 332 is positioned so that the thruster 332 can be controlled to adjust the velocity of the vehicle as it passes over the thruster 332. The sensors 333 are shown to be arranged along the entire length, Lpacer, of the thruster 332 in this embodiment and to be spaced apart by a fixed, known spacing, d. In other embodiments, the number of sensors 333 may vary to practice the invention but typically will range from 2 to 5 or more, and in cases where fewer sensors are utilized these may be placed closer to the leading edge of the thruster 332 to allow the thruster 332 to be operated in response to a velocity determination while the vehicle is adjacent to the thruster 332 (although in many cases the thruster 332 will be operated to slow later vehicles in a train such as in the case of a roller coaster). The velocity of the vehicle carrying the magnet array 338 can be determined from signals received from two or more sensors 333 based upon the time differential between receipt of the two or more signals. The use of more than 2 sensors 333 is desirable in some cases to allow the velocity to be determined more than once per thruster 332, as this allows control or operation of the thruster 332 more precisely.
For example, electrical pulses or position signals may be provided to a controller for a first pair of leading edge sensors, and the controller may determine the vehicle velocity exceeds a desired value which results in the thruster 332 being powered to apply a braking or resistive force (e.g., a magnetic field opposing travel of the vehicle or opposite the DOT of the vehicle). If no additional sensors 333 were provided, the thruster 332 would continue to be operated to brake the vehicle until or unless a later magnet in the array 338 was sensed to be traveling at an acceptable velocity. The use of multiple sensors 333 allows the velocity of the vehicle carrying the array 338 to be determined more than once as the array 338 passes along the length, Lpacer, of the thruster 332, and the plurality of measurements of velocity can be used to repeatedly operate the thruster (or continue to power the thruster) 332 such as to turn off the thruster when a trigger value or goal value for velocity is reached or to apply a magnetic force, MF, in the opposite direction when the velocity falls below or exceeds a particular velocity value.
The magnetic pacer assembly 410 includes the controller or control processor 420 that functions to process the pacer settings 464 and to store in memory 454 a target or goal velocity 456 for a ride vehicle 404 in a particular show portion of the track along with minimum and maximum velocity trigger points 458 (e.g., upper and lower bounds about the target velocity 456 that are used to determine when to operate the thruster and in which direction to provide the magnetic field). The system 400 may comprise a computer or an electronic system configured for processing sensor signals and responding by controlling operation of the pacer assembly 410. The assembly 410 further may include a control module as part of or separate from control processor 420 that may be software, firmware, and/or hardware that controls operation of the assembly 410. The specific computer and electronics hardware and computer software and programming languages implemented to practice the invention is not limiting. Similarly, communications of digital and electronic signals may be performed in any well-known manner such as via the use of serial communication lines or busses, via communications networks such as LAN, WAN, and the like, and in a wired or wireless manner as is known or as may later be developed.
As shown in
More relevant to the present invention, the processor 420 runs a velocity determination module 450 to determine a velocity of the vehicle 404 from two or more of the position signals. For example, the position sensors 416 are used to measure a position of one or magnets in the array 412, and vehicle velocity is derived based on measured position and time (e.g., time for magnet to move between two positions). The control processor 420 then compares this velocity to either or both the target velocity 456 and trigger points 458 (which may be determined based on the target velocity such as tolerance band or the like). Based on this comparison, the control processor 420 determines whether to operate a magnetic propulsion device 430 (such as an LSM) using control signals 422 and/or by providing power 424 to the device 430 from power source 460 (which may be part of assembly 410 as shown or be a separate device). The control by processor 420 includes selecting whether the propulsion device 430 is to apply a resistive or braking force (i.e., when the determined velocity is greater than the target velocity 456 or over a trigger point 458) or to apply a propulsive or accelerating force (i.e., when the determined velocity is less than the target velocity 456 or less than a minimum trigger velocity 458). In some embodiments, the processor 420 may also run a force/power module 452 to determine a power level 424 to provide to the propulsion device 430 to achieve a braking or propulsive force of a particular magnitude (e.g., a maximum force when the differential between measured and target velocity exceeds a particular value and a smaller force at other differentials).
The pacer assembly 410 further includes a user input and output (I/O) 440 (e.g., a mouse, keyboard, touch screen, and the like) allowing a user or operator of the assembly 410 to input information such as to manually adjust the target velocity 456 or to set trigger points 458, to set power levels provided by processor 420, and to request particular displays (such as tables of determined velocities for the ride vehicle 404 and graphs showing determined velocities relative to desired values such as shown in
As shown, the multimedia show system 470 operates a media/display assembly 478, and initiation of a display or function may be performed in response to receiving position values 468 from the pacer assembly 410 or from a separate position sensor assembly (not shown). In some embodiments, the CPU 474 also receives a measured velocity 466 for the ride vehicle 404 from the control processor 420 of the pacer assembly 410. The measured velocity may vary along the length of the pacer or propulsion device 430 as discussed with reference to
In other cases, the multimedia show system 470 may provide the pacer settings 464 in a more dynamic manner. In these cases, the media/display assembly 478 may provide the pacer settings 464 for use by the control processor 420 of the magnet pacer assembly 410 in setting a target velocity 456 and trigger points 458. One example would be a ride that has 2 to 4 or more different scenes that are generated in a display setting or environment along the track near the magnetic pacer assembly 410 and magnetic propulsion device 430. Hence, the media/display assembly 478 may adjust the velocity band (e.g., target velocity 456 and trigger points 458) between ride vehicles 404 to match a next planned show scene. The media/display assembly 478 then operates to display or create the scene matching the newly provided pacer settings 464 when the next ride vehicle(s) 404 travel by the magnetic pacer assembly 410 (as determined by position values 468 or other techniques), and the assembly 410 paces the vehicle 404 based on these dynamic settings. In this manner, for example, a ride may be made more unpredictable as the display may change to encourage repeat rides to see all the scenes, and this process may also be useful when a single stretch of track is passed by a vehicle(s) 404 more than once during a ride.
At 510, the method 500 continues with waiting for a vehicle to arrive, e.g., operating position or other sensors to continually or periodically monitor for a vehicle to pass over or proximate to a magnetic thruster or magnetic force generator. At 520, the method 500 includes checking for arrival of a vehicle and looping back to 510 until one arrives. At this point, the method 500 includes measuring the speed of the vehicle 530 such as by processing two or more position signals. At 540, the method 500 involves determining whether the vehicle is under speed, which may include a comparison of the determined vehicle velocity with a goal or target velocity or with a lower bound that defines a velocity that is less than the target but still acceptably close in magnitude to the goal velocity. If the vehicle is determined under speed, at 580, the method 500 includes a controller operating to apply thrust to the vehicle to accelerate the vehicle. In other words, the controller controls and/or powers a magnetic thruster or propulsion device to create a magnetic field that applies a force to the vehicle that adds momentum (i.e., applies force that causes the vehicle to move more rapidly in the DOT). After (or while) the thrust is applied at 580, the speed may be measured again at 530 and testing for an under speed condition checked again at 540. The accelerating force at 580 may be short duration pulse, a force generated for a preset time period before performing 530 (e.g., there may be a built in delay or pause prior to determining how speed was affected by the step 580), or the accelerating magnetic force may be applied in an ongoing manner until the steps of 530 and 540 indicate the vehicle is no longer under speed (or even until a predefined value or magnitude of velocity above the trigger used for applying an accelerating force is achieved such as the goal velocity).
At 550, when the vehicle is not under speed, the method 500 includes determining whether the vehicle is over speed such as by comparing the determined vehicle velocity with a goal velocity or with a trigger velocity defining a velocity above the goal at which braking will be performed by the magnetic pacer assembly. If not over speed, the method 500 continues with determining whether the vehicle is at a target or goal speed (or within an acceptable range between the two trigger or bound velocity values). If so, the method 500 may continue with waiting for a next vehicle (or next train in some cases) with no further forces being applied to the vehicle, e.g., the vehicle is allowed to coast. If not, the method 500 loops back to 530 to perform another speed measurement. In other embodiments (not shown), even if a vehicle is determined to be at the target speed or within an acceptable velocity range, the method 500 will loop back to step 530 such that the speed will be monitored and adjusted as necessary whenever a vehicle is over or proximate to the pacer assembly and one or more of its magnetic thrusters (e.g., speed monitored along a substantial portion of or entire length of pacer).
At 570, if the vehicle is over speed, the magnetic thruster is operated to apply a thrust or resistive/braking force to the vehicle to decelerate the vehicle to try to pace the vehicle to the goal velocity. This typically involves a magnetic thruster being controlled and/or powered to generate a magnetic field that applies a force that is opposite the direction of the DOT (or at least not in the same direction as the DOT) or that removes momentum from the vehicle (which may or may not require a field that is opposite the DOT but may only require a transverse force). The method 500 then continues at 530 with repeating the measurement of the speed, and, as with the accelerating force applied at 580, the decelerating force may be applied as a pulse, for a preset time period, or until the vehicle is determined to be no longer over speed at 550 (or at least a speed that matches or exceeds the goal velocity).
FIG 6 illustrates a graph 600 showing the control process implemented by a magnetic pacer assembly of the invention (such as by operation of the controller 420 of
In the first scenario, a velocity of the vehicle is measured at or near a leading edge of the pacer, and this velocity is well above the target velocity, Vtarget, and also above an upper velocity trigger, Vupper. The controller of the pacer assembly acts to operate the thruster (or thrusters as the vehicles of a train may be over more than one thruster at any particular point in time) to apply a magnetic force, FMAG1, that resists travel in the DOT (e.g., a braking or resistive force is applied on a magnet array on the vehicle(s)). The speed of the vehicle is shown to be lowered as the vehicle travels along the pacer, with the speed being measured typically on a periodic basis such as shown in
In the second scenario, the initial vehicle velocity is determined to be outside of the desired velocity range, VBAND, but lower than a lower bound or trigger value, Vlower. In this case, the controller acts to control and, or power the magnetic thruster or thrusters to apply a propulsive or accelerating magnetic force, FMAG6, to the magnet array on the vehicle(s). When the vehicle speed is measured as at or above the upper bound or trigger value, Vupper, the controller functions to control and/or power the thruster or thrusters to generate a resistive or decelerating magnetic force that is applied to the magnet array of the vehicle(s). In this case, the combination of the accelerating and decelerating forces, FMAG6 and FMAG7, causes the vehicle(s) to remain in the desired range, VBAND, for the remaining length of the pacer (e.g., for the show portion of the ride). In other cases, the initial accelerating force, FMAG6, may be selected to be of an appropriate magnitude and/or duration to place the vehicle velocity in the range, VBAND, and then released at a proper point to be able to coast at desired speeds. In other cases, multiple accelerating and decelerating forces may have to be applied to properly pace the vehicle (as shown with the first scenario).
In the third scenario, the initially measured vehicle velocity is within the desired velocity range, VBAND, and speed measurements indicate that the vehicle never falls outside the range, VBAND. Hence, the controller does not operate the magnetic thrusters at all for this vehicle. In other scenarios (not shown), the initial velocity and characteristics of the vehicle(s), track, and/or magnetic thrusters may be such that a decelerating or an accelerating magnetic force is applied for the entire length of the pacer but the vehicle never enters the desired range, VBAND. In such cases, a later pacer assembly may be provided such that the initial pacer acts as a first stage (braking stage or accelerating stage) that is followed by a second (or more) stage that acts to place the vehicle's velocity within the desired range, VBAND. In some cases, the pacer may be staged to only apply a limited amount of force to avoid exceeding a design restriction such as the amount of G forces that can be applied to passengers, and in these cases, the first stage thruster may be controlled and/or powered and/or sized to only provide an acceptable amount of decelerating or accelerating force. Later stages or modules may then apply additional magnetic forces to bring the vehicle velocity within the desired velocity range after this initial quick slowing or speeding up (e.g., after initial stage later “settling” stages may be provided to place the vehicle in a tight velocity band about a target velocity). It should be remembered that in some applications such as roller coasters the track configuration is designed such that the train may be traveling at near a “normal” or goal velocity when it enters a pacer controlled section of track, and, as such, the magnetic pacer assembly may not have to apply significant forces to pace the vehicle so as to bring the vehicle back to normal or target velocity. Vehicles may range significantly in weight with some approaching or exceeding 10,000 pounds, and it may be desirable to select the magnetic thrusters to be able handle such a weight capacity or be selected based on anticipated vehicle weights (when loaded) and anticipated speeds (such as up to or over 10 miles per hour). Of course, the magnetic forces applied in many applications are not required to provide full kinetic energy to a vehicle but, instead, may be considered tuning or pacing forces that are applied to remove or add smaller amounts of energy from a moving vehicle.
As shown in
It is anticipated that the magnetic pacer assemblies will provide many advantages over the use of mechanical pacers. For example, magnetic thrusters have the advantage of being touch free with no moving, wear, or replacement parts. They provide a propulsive or braking force using a magnetic field. This means that there are no parts that wear out during use, resulting in decreased maintenance costs and lower lifecycle costs. Magnetic thrusters provide improved reliability and very quiet propulsion and slowing/braking. In some cases, the use of magnetic thrusters may even provide an opportunity to use regenerative braking and recapture energy, and in almost all cases, these thrusters provide components with longer lives than with mechanical pacers. Magnetic thrusters and their controls can be provided in a small package (e.g., significant thrust in a relatively small piece of equipment), which facilitates use in locations where real estate/space is limited such as in indoor rides and facilitates maintenance (e.g., provides more ready access and does not necessitate large maintenance pits and the like as is often required with mechanical pacers). This also minimizes down time of the attraction if a failure does occur and the system needs to be replaced. Magnetic thrusters typically provide smooth acceleration and braking without the bouncing and jerking experience with many contact-based systems. Significantly, magnetic thrusters are operated in many embodiments to provide multi-directional forces to provide forward or backwards thrust (e.g., acceleration as well as deceleration or braking). The controllers of the assemblies of the invention also allow speed profiles (e.g., target velocities and upper and lower boundaries or trigger velocities) to be programmed, which allows the values to be readily changed such as a user I/O or GUI or the like that is used to access profiles in system memory. Magnetic thrusters such as LSMs allow tighter control of vehicle speed and can reduce the speed variations due to temperature, rain, and vehicle loads. Reduced speed variations may allow for improved THRC. A magnetic pacer would have better reliability and more consistent operation in a variety of environmental conditions (e.g., temperature, humidity, rain, snow, and the like) that would effect friction in a mechanical system.
In general, the pacer assembly detects when a vehicle enters its area of influence and determines the speed of the vehicle. In some embodiments, using pre-programmed tables, the controller operates the thruster to apply thrust or apply braking to adjust the vehicle's speed. Unfortunately, a magnetic system cannot hold a vehicle in one position. In all the traditional pacers, there is a mechanical interface and wear and tear results. Using an LSM or other magnetic thruster, this functionality can be duplicated and improved upon while the wear and tear is reduced or even eliminated. The vehicle may be outfitted with a magnet array (rotor) and the LSM stators or other magnetic field generators would be placed through out the ride such as in show portions. Speed adjustments are made to a vehicle at every pacer location or as needed to maintain a desired pace in these locations.
Although the invention has been described and illustrated with a certain degree of particularity, it is understood that the present disclosure has been made only by way of example, and that numerous changes in the combination and arrangement of parts can be resorted to by those skilled in the art without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention, as hereinafter claimed. For example, the magnetic pacer assemblies may be used in nearly any amusement park ride configuration or similar vehicle movement setting. In addition to powered cars and roller coasters, the assemblies may be used in omni-movers and also in vertical rides such as lift and drop rides in which the pacers of the invention may be used to pace the lift and/or the drop portion of the ride.
Further, the figures and examples provided generally showed a single direction of travel (e.g., the DOT 120 of
| Number | Name | Date | Kind |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4381478 | Saijo et al. | Apr 1983 | A |
| 4991514 | Powell et al. | Feb 1991 | A |
| 5605100 | Morris et al. | Feb 1997 | A |
| 5669821 | Prather et al. | Sep 1997 | A |
| 5931099 | Bruner et al. | Aug 1999 | A |
| 6011508 | Perreault et al. | Jan 2000 | A |
| 6060847 | Hettema et al. | May 2000 | A |
| 6062350 | Spieldiener et al. | May 2000 | A |
| 6100874 | Schena et al. | Aug 2000 | A |
| 6101952 | Thornton et al. | Aug 2000 | A |
| 6170402 | Rude et al. | Jan 2001 | B1 |
| 6327979 | Ochi | Dec 2001 | B1 |
| 6341564 | Ochi | Jan 2002 | B1 |
| 6397755 | Kamler | Jun 2002 | B1 |
| 6499701 | Thornton et al. | Dec 2002 | B1 |
| 6550392 | Albrich | Apr 2003 | B2 |
| 6578495 | Yitts et al. | Jun 2003 | B1 |
| 6781524 | Clark et al. | Aug 2004 | B1 |
| 6782831 | Yamada | Aug 2004 | B2 |
| 6876896 | Ortiz et al. | Apr 2005 | B1 |
| 6983701 | Thornton et al. | Jan 2006 | B2 |
| 7484463 | Li | Feb 2009 | B2 |
| 7737686 | Schmid et al. | Jun 2010 | B2 |
| 20030126980 | Barden | Jul 2003 | A1 |
| 20040119358 | Thornton et al. | Jun 2004 | A1 |
| 20060219124 | Jordan | Oct 2006 | A1 |
| 20070089630 | Gordon | Apr 2007 | A1 |
| 20070261589 | Bussink | Nov 2007 | A1 |
| 20070265103 | Roodenburg et al. | Nov 2007 | A1 |
| 20080297328 | Crawford et al. | Dec 2008 | A1 |
| 20100236444 | Blonk et al. | Sep 2010 | A1 |
| Number | Date | Country |
|---|---|---|
| 1829592 | Sep 2007 | EP |
| Number | Date | Country | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 20090114114 A1 | May 2009 | US |
