Choreographed ride systems and methods
AssigneeUniversal City Studios LLC
InventorsLara Larberg MacLean, William Dale Mason, Eric Alan Vance, Justin Michael Schwartz, Ross Alan Osterman
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
A ride vehicle includes a riding assembly configured to carry a rider, a base configured to couple to the riding assembly, and a control system configured to control the coordination of movements of the ride vehicle with movements of separate ride vehicles. The base includes a surface movement system configured to move the ride vehicle along a surface, a vertical movement system configured to move the riding assembly vertically relative to the base, and a roll system configured to move the riding assembly angularly relative to the base.
Claims20
A ride system, comprising:
- a plurality of ride vehicles, wherein each respective ride vehicle of the plurality of ride vehicles comprises a riding assembly configured to move vertically and angularly relative to a base of the respective ride vehicle;
- and
- a ride control system configured to:
- receive a respective position of each respective ride vehicle of the plurality of ride vehicles within a ride area;
- determine that a respective distance between two respective positions of two ride vehicles of the plurality of ride vehicles is less than a threshold distance;
- and
- output a signal to at least one ride vehicle of the plurality of ride vehicles indicative of instructions to adjust at least one position of the at least one ride vehicle of the plurality of ride vehicles in response to determining that the respective distance between the two respective positions of the two ride vehicles of the plurality of ride vehicles is less than the threshold distance.
A ride vehicle, comprising:
- a base configured to traverse a ride area;
- a riding assembly configured to move vertically and angularly relative to the base;
- and
- a ride vehicle control system configured to:
- receive a signal indicative of a position of the ride vehicle relative to an additional position of an additional ride vehicle;
- determine that a distance between the position of the ride vehicle and the additional position of the additional ride vehicle is less than a threshold distance;
- and
- output a signal to the base indicative of instructions to adjust the position of the ride vehicle in response to determining that the distance between the position of the ride vehicle and the additional position of the additional ride vehicle is less than the threshold distance.
A method, comprising:
- receiving a respective position of each respective ride vehicle of a plurality of ride vehicles within a ride area, wherein each respective ride vehicle of the plurality of ride vehicles comprises a riding assembly configured to move vertically and angularly relative to a base of the respective ride vehicle;
- determining that a distance between two respective positions of two ride vehicles of the plurality of ride vehicles is less than a threshold distance;
- and
- outputting a signal to at least one ride vehicle of the plurality of ride vehicles indicative of instructions to adjust at least one position of the at least one ride vehicle of the plurality of ride vehicles in response to determining that the distance between the two respective positions of the two ride vehicles of the plurality of ride vehicles is less than the threshold distance.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.