What is A.R.I.S.E.?

Amusement park rides have a history of over 200 years. Roller Coasters, Ferris Wheels and Merry-Go-Rounds have sparked an international multi-billion dollar industry involving Disney, Six Flags, and Universal alike spanning the globe from California to Europe to Japan.

These Companies have well funded dedicated research and development teams to ensure that every year their rides are safer and more entertaining for their customers, however there is another industry involving the beloved amusement park rides that is often overlooked and underdeveloped in comparison to the big corporations.

The traveling carnivals are amusement park shows that travel all across North America between the United States and Canada. They bring the thrill of Roller Coasters and Ferris Wheels to cities and towns and require equipment that is easy to maintain and transportable. However, unlike with the likes of Disney and Universal, these rides are often privately owned and do not have the resources or the ability to upgrade to keep up with today's standards. This is a major issue in the world of 3-D movies and advanced video games where 200 year old amusement parks rides are in danger of becoming just a memory.

To aid the traveling carnival industry with this issue, an Amusement Ride Intelligent Safety Enhancement system (A.R.I.S.E.) is proposed. This module has the ability to record vital ride operation data such as speed, vibrations, g-force and tilt angles. It also has the ability to detect when a rider is no longer properly seated and create a light show that exaggerates the speed of the ride. The information obtained from the ride is transmitted wirelessly to the operator control panel and affects the light show.

Many classical rides are still in operation while the show quality of newer rides and attractions have raised the guest expectations.  Under-stimulated guests are prone to inappropriate behavior such as deviation from the correct seating position, with consequences up to and including fatal ejection.  Enhancing classic rides is often problematic due to unavailability of a wired power supply. Because of this, the A.R.I.S.E. module attached to the seat of the ride is completely solar powered allowing it to be very versatile and easy to install on existing rides. In rides where there is available 120 Volts AC at the seat, the module can also be plugged allowing the A.R.I.S.E. module to function solely at night or indoors.

When the ride is in motion, the device will begin to read the weight exerted on the seat of the ride by the patrons along with the speed, the tilt angle and G force of the ride. The data will be used to affect the light show posted along the fence of the ride to exaggerate its motion. If a patron is no longer properly seated during the motion,  an alert is wirelessly sent to the operator control panel along with interrupting the light show of the ride and instead displaying a very visible warning message. An output signal will also be triggered at the operator panel where a relay or another device can be attached to immediately stop the ride if this occurs.

The objective of this project is to design a device for monitoring behavior of patrons.  The embedded monitoring system would detect unsafe seating positions and relay the information to the ride operator where immediate action can be taken or if desired by the owner, taken immediately and automatically.  In addition, a perceptual enhancement to exaggerate the ride acceleration would further discourage passenger from deviating their seats along with making the rider operator aware of any problems.

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