Trackless Ride Path Selection for Personalized Guest Routing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Amusement park rides, particularly complex tracked and trackless dark ride systems, face a decline in guest attraction over time, prompting costly changes to structural tracks, scenic elements, and media to maintain novelty, which is inefficient and costly.
Innovation Solution
A method for dispatching trackless vehicles that allows riders to individually select paths within a ride space using wireless communicators, vehicle controllers, and sensors, enabling dynamic route changes and personalized experiences based on rider input, thereby enhancing engagement and reducing the need for frequent infrastructure updates.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If costly changes are made to structural track and ride infrastructure to maintain novelty, then guest attraction is improved, but capital investment and operational costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic path selection for trackless ride vehicles, allowing vehicles to automatically select and change traversal paths based on real-time conditions, rider preferences, or operational parameters. This dynamic capability enables the ride to offer varied experiences without any physical modifications to the infrastructure, resolving the contradiction by making the system adaptable through software rather than costly structural changes
Solution Approach 2:
The system changes operational parameters such as vehicle paths, sequencing, and routing through software control rather than physical modifications. The controller can dynamically adjust path selection parameters, vehicle dispatch intervals, and routing algorithms to maintain guest interest, eliminating the need for expensive infrastructure changes while preserving adaptability
2Adaptability or versatility
If costly changes are made to scenic show elements and attraction media to maintain novelty, then guest attraction is improved, but capital investment increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables dynamic variation of ride experiences through software-controlled path selection and vehicle dispatching. Different routing algorithms, path combinations, and sequencing strategies can be implemented to create novel experiences without modifying scenic elements or media, resolving the contradiction by achieving adaptability through operational flexibility rather than physical changes
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses virtual representations and software models to create varied ride experiences. By implementing multiple virtual paths and routing scenarios through software, the system can offer different narrative experiences and visual perspectives without duplicating or modifying physical scenic elements, reducing capital investment while maintaining novelty
3Adaptability or versatility
If trackless vehicles allow dynamic path selection, then ride experience variety is improved, but control system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements self-service path selection where trackless vehicles autonomously select their own traversal paths based on pre-programmed algorithms, real-time sensor data, and operational parameters. The vehicles self-navigate and self-adjust routing without requiring complex centralized control for each decision, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining experience variety through autonomous vehicle intelligence
4Ease of operation
If rider input is used to control vehicle path, then guest engagement is improved, but real-time control complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary layer of pre-programmed routing algorithms and path templates that translate simple rider preferences into complex navigation decisions. Riders provide high-level input through user interfaces selecting from predefined options, and the intermediary control system automatically translates these preferences into detailed vehicle path commands, maintaining guest engagement while managing control complexity through abstraction
Data Source
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Figure 3~4
AI summary
A trackless vehicle may be dispatched in a ride path comprising a predefined path and a set of optional predefined paths by receiving, such as by an on-board trackless vehicle controller, a rider identifier associated with a rider who is associated with the trackless vehicle, either a rider about to board the trackless vehicle or a rider who has boarded the trackless vehicle. Upon receipt, identification, and validation of the rider identifier, a predetermined set of optional predefined paths available to and associated with the validated rider identifier are identified and one or more of the predefined paths are selected, with the trackless vehicle being commanded to proceed onto the selected predefined path.