# US 2024/0198243 A1 · System and method for controlling operation of a ride system based on gestures > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2024/0198243 A1 - Document ID: US20240198243A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 18/082,472 - Filed: 2022-12-15 - Published: 2024-06-20 - Earliest claimed: 2022-12-15 - Assignees: Universal City Studios LLC - Applicants: Universal City Studios LLC - Inventors: Gregory RELL; Dennis GEBKEN - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20240198243A1 ## CPC - A63G 31/02: with moving substructures - G06V 20/52: Surveillance or monitoring of activities, e.g. for recognising suspicious objects (recognising microscopic objects G06V20/69) - G05B 19/048: Monitoring; Safety - G06V 10/82: using neural networks - G06V 40/20: Movements or behaviour, e.g. gesture recognition (recognition of facial expressions G06V40/16) - G06V 40/28: {Recognition of hand or arm movements, e.g. recognition of deaf sign language (static hand signs G06V40/113)} - G05B 2219/23021: Gesture programming, camera sees hand, displays it on screen, grasp buttons - A63G: MERRY-GO-ROUNDS; SWINGS; ROCKING-HORSES; CHUTES; SWITCHBACKS; SIMILAR DEVICES FOR PUBLIC AMUSEMENT - G06V: IMAGE OR VIDEO RECOGNITION OR UNDERSTANDING - G05B: CONTROL OR REGULATING SYSTEMS IN GENERAL; FUNCTIONAL ELEMENTS OF SUCH SYSTEMS; MONITORING OR TESTING ARRANGEMENTS FOR SUCH SYSTEMS OR ELEMENTS (systems for controlling or regulating non-electric variables G05D; systems for regulating electric or magnetic variables G05F; control devices or systems insofar as characterised by mechanical features only G05G) ## Abstract A ride control system for controlling operation of an amusement park ride having a ride station area wherein patrons embark and disembark from a ride vehicle under supervision of one or more ride operators, includes a vision system and a ride control processor. The vision system capture images of one or more of the one or more ride operators at one or more locations within the ride station area. The ride control processor receives one or more images from the vision system and includes a machine-learned module configured to recognize one or more valid gestures within the one or more images, where a valid gesture corresponds to a gesture from at least one of the one or more ride operators, and program logic configured to process the one or more valid gestures within the one or more images to enable a ride operation. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A ride control system for controlling operation of an amusement park ride having a ride station area under supervision of one or more ride operators, the ride control system comprising: a vision system configured to capture images of one or more of the one or more ride operators at one or more of locations within the ride station area; and a ride control processor coupled to receive one or more images from the vision system, the ride control processor comprising: a machine-learned module configured to recognize one or more valid gestures within the one or more images, where a valid gesture corresponds to a gesture from at least one of the one or more ride operators, and program logic configured to process the one or more valid gestures within the images to enable a ride operation. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The ride control system of claim 1, wherein the machine-learned module is configured to recognize one or more valid gestures within the one or more images by being trained to: identify a gesture within the one or more images corresponding to a gesture within a set of programmed gestures; and determine the identified gesture is made by at least one of the one or more ride operators. ### Claim 3 (depends on 2) The ride control system of claim 2, wherein the machine-learned module is trained to identify a gesture within the one or more images corresponding to a gesture within the set of programmed gestures based on a labeled dataset of images of programmed gestures captured at one or more locations within the ride station area. ### Claim 4 (depends on 3) The ride control system of claim 3, wherein images of programmed gestures within the labeled dataset are captured by the vision system. ### Claim 5 (depends on 2) The ride control system of claim 2, wherein the machine-learned module is trained to determine the identified gesture is made by at least one of the one or more ride operators based on a labeled dataset of images of a feature associated with the one or more ride operators. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The ride control system of claim 1, wherein the program logic is configured to enable a ride operation when: the one or more valid gestures within the one or more images comprise a plurality of a same valid gesture from at least two of the one or more ride operators. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The ride control system of claim 1, wherein the program logic is configured to enable a ride operation when: the one or more valid gestures within the one or more images comprise a plurality of a same valid gesture from at least two of the one or more ride operators, and each of the plurality of the same valid gesture is present within the one or more images for a threshold duration. ### Claim 8 (depends on 1) The ride control system of claim 1, wherein the ride control processor is coupled to an operator control console, and the program logic is configured to enable a ride operation when: the one or more valid gestures within the one or more images comprise a plurality of a same valid gesture from at least two of the one or more ride operators, each of the plurality of the same valid gesture is present within the one or more images for a threshold duration, and a corresponding operation signal is received from the operator control console. ### Claim 9 (depends on 1) The ride control system of claim 1, wherein the program logic is configured to enable a ride operation when: the one or more valid gestures within the one or more images comprise a single valid gesture from at least one of the one or more ride operators. ### Claim 10 (depends on 1) The ride control system of claim 1, wherein the program logic is configured to enable a ride operation when: the one or more valid gestures within the images comprise a single valid gesture from at least one of the one or more ride operators, and the single valid gesture is present within the images for a threshold duration. ### Claim 11 A method of controlling operation of an amusement park ride having a ride station area under supervision of one or more ride operators, the method comprising: capturing one or more images of one or more of the one or more ride operators at one or more locations within the ride station area; recognizing one or more valid gestures within the one or more images, where a valid gesture corresponds to a gesture from at least one of the one or more ride operators; and processing the one or more valid gestures within the one or more images to enable a ride operation. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein recognizing one or more valid gestures within the one or more images comprises: applying the one or more images to a machine-learned module trained to identify a gesture corresponding to a gesture within a set of programmed gestures; and applying the one or more images to a machine-learned module trained to determine the identified gesture is made by one of the one or more ride operators. ### Claim 13 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein processing the one or more valid gestures within the one or more images to enable a ride operation comprises: enabling the ride operation when: the one or more valid gestures within the one or more images comprise a plurality of the same valid gesture from at least two of the one or more ride operators. ### Claim 14 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein processing the one or more valid gestures within the one or more images to enable a ride operation comprises: enabling the ride operation when: the one or more valid gestures within the one or more images comprise a plurality of the same valid gesture from at least two of one or more ride operators, and each of the plurality of the same valid gesture is present within the one or more images for a threshold duration. ### Claim 15 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein processing the one or more valid gestures within the one or more images to enable a ride operation comprises: enabling a ride operation when: the one or more valid gestures within the one or more images comprise a plurality of the same valid gesture from at least two of one or more ride operators, each of the plurality of the same valid gesture is present within the images for a threshold duration, and a corresponding operation signal is received from an operator control console. ### Claim 16 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein processing the one or more valid gestures within the one or more images to enable a ride operation comprises: enabling the ride operation when: the one or more valid gestures within one or more images comprise a single valid gesture from at least one of the one or more ride operators. ### Claim 17 (depends on 11) The method of claim 11, wherein processing the one or more valid gestures within the one or more images to enable a ride operation comprises: enabling the ride operation when: the one or more valid gestures within the images comprise a single valid gesture from at least one of the one or more ride operators, and the single valid gesture is present within the one or more images for a threshold duration. ### Claim 18 A ride control processor comprising: a machine-learned module configured to recognize one or more valid gestures within one or more images, where a valid gesture corresponds to a gesture from at least one of one or more ride operators within a ride station area, the machine-learned module comprising: a first model trained to identify within images, a gesture corresponding to a gesture within a set of programmed gestures, and a second model trained to determine the gesture is made by at least one of the one or more of ride operators; and program logic configured to process the one or more valid gestures within the one or more images to enable a ride operation. ### Claim 19 (depends on 18) The ride control processor of claim 18, wherein the first model comprises a convolutional neural network trained to identify a gesture corresponding to a gesture within the set of programmed gestures based on a labeled dataset of images of programmed gestures captured at one or more locations within the ride station area. ### Claim 20 (depends on 18) The ride control processor of claim 18, wherein the second model comprises a convolutional neural network trained to determine the gesture is made by at least one of the one or more ride operators based on a labeled dataset of images of a feature associated with the one or more ride operators.