Portable Access Key With Variable Parameter For Queue Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems for managing access to attractions in amusement parks face challenges in efficiently regulating access while minimizing queue lengths, particularly for popular attractions, due to the complexity and cost of sophisticated communication and computational requirements.
Innovation Solution
A system utilizing portable access keys with variable access parameters and a queue manager that sets access criteria based on queue characteristics, such as the number of users, allowing users to determine access without specific time allocations, and adjusts parameters independently of the access criterion.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If sophisticated communication and computational facilities are used to allocate time slots, then access allocation efficiency is improved, but system cost and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The portable access key contains a processor that independently evaluates whether the current access queue characteristic meets the stored access criterion, eliminating the need for complex centralized communication systems. The user's device performs the computational task of determining access eligibility locally, thereby reducing system-wide complexity and cost while maintaining allocation efficiency.
Solution Approach 2:
The access determination function is extracted from the centralized queue manager and placed into the portable access key. This extraction removes the burden of complex real-time communication and computation from the central system, allowing it to focus only on setting access criteria, thereby reducing overall system complexity while preserving productivity.
2Device complexity
If physical queue lines are used to manage access, then access regulation is simplified, but queue length increases and user experience deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The access criterion is made dynamic by linking it to the current access queue characteristic (e.g., queue length or waiting time). As the queue characteristic changes, the access criterion automatically adjusts, allowing the system to regulate access dynamically based on real-time conditions rather than using fixed, static rules. This enables efficient queue management without requiring long physical queues.
3Productivity
If access criterion is based on queue characteristic, then access control efficiency is improved, but system adaptability requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The portable access key stores the access criterion in advance before the user arrives at the attraction. The criterion, which may be based on queue characteristics such as maximum queue length or maximum waiting time, is pre-configured into the device. This preliminary action allows for efficient access control at the point of use without requiring complex real-time adaptation, as the device already contains the necessary decision-making parameters.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for regulating access to a resource by a plurality of users is provided. The system comprises: a plurality of portable access keys, each being provided to one of the users and having an associated variable access parameter; an access barrier, having an open state allowing passage through and a closed state denying access to the resource, and defining an access queue; a sensor that determines an access queue characteristic related to a number of users in the access queue; a controller, which sets an access criterion based on the determined access queue characteristic; and a detector, located at the access barrier and which determines the variable access parameter of a portable access key when it is brought into the vicinity of the detector. The controller sets the access barrier in its open state if the variable access parameter determined by the detector meets the access criterion.