What

1
Whats So Difficult About Controlling Coasters?

• Nick Mansur
• Vice President
• Scientific Systems
• Walt Disney Imagineering

2
Topics

• Environment
• Approach
• Next Generation

3
Operational Environment

• High Capacity
• High Availability
• Continually Changing Operations Maintenance
  Staff
• Site-Dependent Regulations

4
Political Environment

• The Public Believes a Disney Park Is
  Intrinsically Safe
• We Live in a Litigious Society
• Were an Entertainment Company
• Real Requirements Are Often Subjective

5
Development Environment

• Small Teams
• Short Timeframes
• Parallel Installation Activities

6
Hazards

• Collisions
• Excessive Accel/Decel
• Unplanned/Unwanted Motion

7
Other Considerations

• System Initialization
• System Repair/Test Modes
• Station Operation
• Adding/Removing Vehicles
• User Interface

8
Safety Philosophy

• Stop If Theres a Problem
• One Way Down the Mountain
• No Reasonable Failure Shall Jeopardize Guest
  Safety
• Integrate Control and Safety

9
Design Process

• Employ the Right People
• Follow Standards Procedures
• Two Sets of Eyes

10
The Design

• Proven Technologies
• Redundancy
• Checking Algorithms

11
Disney Ride Control System Architecture
Field Equipment
Output
(sensors, monitors,
Cards
Input
Control Processor
buttons, switches,
Cards
Field Equipment
etc.)
(motors, valves,
solenoids, etc.)
Power
Output
Cards
Sync, Votes
Power
Bus
Bus Status
Controller
Sync, Votes
Output
Cards
Monitor Processor
Ride Status
Message
Input
Cards
System
Ride Status

• Each Processor Sees the Same Inputs
• Each Processor Runs Identical Software
• Only Control Processor Controls Field Equipment
• Either Processor Can Remove Power
• Sync/Vote Signals Used to Minimize Disagreements

12
Typical Block Zone
Zone 2 Entry Sensor
Zone 3 Exit Sensor
Zone 2 Exit Sensor
Zone 3 Entry Sensor
Zone 3 Brakes
Zone 2 Brakes

• At Least One Set of Closed Brakes Between
  Vehicles
• Exit Sensors Control Brake Operation
• Entry Sensors Detect Intrusion
• Sensor Sequencing and Sensor/Subzone Timing

13
The Next Generation

• Drive for Bigger Wow
• Requires More Sophisticated Technology
• Increases Complexity
• Decreases Comfort Level
• California Legislation