Patent Description:
The present disclosure relates generally to object detection. More specifically, certain embodiments of the present disclosure relate to alternating alignment of sensors for detection of objects.

Amusement park rides are becoming increasingly sophisticated, providing more significant thrills and more intricate designs than ever before. Further, ride safety is of utmost importance. Unfortunately, thorough safety equipment oftentimes may hinder creative constraints that would improve aesthetics of the ride.

<CIT> discloses a seat for a theater, auditorium or the like, comprising an object detection system for detecting the occupancy of the seat, using a pressure sensor or a thermal sensor, and indicating with a light above the seat whether the seat is occupied or not.

<CIT> discloses an object detection system comprising light emitters and receivers arranged such that light beams form an angled cross formation, and, based upon whether at least one of the light beams does not reach the expected receiver, detecting an object in the field of surveillance.

The invention relates to an entertainment attraction seat comprising an object detection system according to claim <NUM>. The object detection systems provide extensive coverage area for object detection, while maintaining a low profile, such that the object detection systems may be implemented in a manner that minimizes hindrance to creative constraints. An alternating pair of through-beam sensors are positioned in a cross pattern. This configuration allows the sensors to completely cover a cross section of the curved seat, while allowing the devices to fit completely into a limited space in the armrest of a seat, resulting in increased aesthetics and coverage over traditional object detection systems.

<FIG> is a schematic top-down view of a row <NUM> of seats 102A-G with installed object detection systems 104A-G, in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. As illustrated, each of the object detection systems 104A-G are installed in armrests <NUM> of the seats 102A-G. The object detection systems 104A-G each include sensors that are used to detect occupancy of a seat. As will be discussed in more detail below, such occupancy information may be useful to implement safety features of an attraction and/or may be useful to provide targeted attraction features to particular seats based upon occupancy status.

In the current arrangement, the sensors include photoelectric sensors. More specifically, a through beam sensor arrangement of emitter and receiver pairs are used to discover the presence of an object in the seats. To do this, a sensor configuration of <NUM> emitters (E) and <NUM> receivers (R) is used to cover the relevant seating area, where object detection should occur. The emitters are directed in a manner such that light beams <NUM> are provided from the receivers in a cross formation <NUM> across each of the seats 102A-G. As will be illustrated in subsequent figures, the cross formation is also angled, such that the beams are not parallel to the seat bottoms. This allows for a wider range of seat coverage by the sensors.

With through beam sensors, the receivers are in line-of-sight of the emitters. When one or more of the light beams <NUM> are blocked from reaching the receiver, an object is detected. More specifically, when present, the object intersects the light beam between the emitter and receiver. By using the cross formation of the light beams <NUM>, the light beam may cover a larger area, resulting in increased area where an object can intersect the light beams <NUM>. Thus, using such a formation may result in more accurate object detection over through sensors arranged in a different formation.

<FIG> are schematic views of individual seats 200A and 200B of the row <NUM> of seats of <FIG>, in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. As illustrated, the emitter and receiver positions for these seats 200A and 200B are slightly skewed in comparison to one another. For example, seat 200A illustrates emitters at points <NUM> and <NUM> and receivers at points <NUM> and <NUM>. In contrast, neighboring seat 200B in the row <NUM> is shown with emitters at points <NUM> and <NUM> and receivers at points <NUM> and <NUM>. Thus, the emitters and receivers in seat 200B are moved slightly forward in comparison to the emitters and receivers in seat 200A. As will be discussed in more detail below, this is to allow for emitters and receivers for neighboring seats to be placed in a common armrest (e.g., armrests <NUM>), despite the armrests being relatively narrow (e.g., and unable to support multiple emitters and/or receivers for two neighboring seats in a common position).

As may also be appreciated, each receiver and its corresponding emitter are at different horizontal and vertical positions, causing the angled cross formation <NUM>, as discussed above. The angled cross formation <NUM> results in a significant coverage area for the through sensors, by generating larger light beams (and therefore larger areas between the emitters and receivers with which an object can intersect the light beam). This can be especially useful with seats that have a curved seating surface, as occupant positioning may dip down, requiring a wider range of detection coverage.

The positioning of the emitters and receivers may alternate for each seat. For example, seat three could have a sensor positioning similar to that of seat <NUM>. Seat <NUM> could have a similar sensor positioning as seat <NUM>. By using these alternating sensor positionings, emitters and/or receivers may be supported for neighboring chairs in a common narrow armrest. Further, while the <NUM> emitters are shown in opposing armrests for a particular seat, resulting in the <NUM> receivers being in opposing armrests for the particular seat, it is important to note that both emitters could be in one armrest and both receivers in the opposing armrest.

<FIG> is a perspective view of a seat bracket <NUM> used to support the object detection system in the seat, in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. The bracket <NUM> includes a portion <NUM> for attaching the bracket <NUM> to a seat frame. Further, voids <NUM> span the width of the bracket <NUM> and are sized to hold emitters, which can be oriented to either side of the bracket <NUM>. This enables the bracket <NUM> to support emitters for two neighboring seats. Voids <NUM> span the width of the bracket <NUM> and are sized to hold receivers, which can be oriented to either side of the bracket <NUM>. This enables the bracket <NUM> to support receivers for two neighboring seats.

<FIG> is a perspective view of a seat <NUM> with an object detection system installed, in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. As illustrated, the seat <NUM> includes bracket <NUM> and an opposing bracket <NUM>', which is a mirror of bracket <NUM>. Portions <NUM> facilitate attachment of the brackets <NUM> and <NUM>' to the seat frames <NUM>. As discussed above, the voids <NUM> hold emitters, which emit light beams to the receivers held in voids <NUM>. As may be appreciated, the emitters and their corresponding receivers are positioned at different horizontal and vertical positions, resulting in the angled cross formation <NUM>, which spans a significant portion of the seating surface area of the seat. Further, voids <NUM> are used to hold emitters and/or receivers for neighboring seats (e.g., the voids <NUM> of bracket <NUM> hold the emitters and/or receivers for the neighboring chair to the left, which the voids <NUM> of the bracket <NUM>' hold the emitters and/or receivers for the neighboring chair on the right.

<FIG> are prototype images, illustrating coverage of the object detection system, in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. For demonstration sake, white ropes are used to illustrate the light beams generated by the emitters held in the seat armrests. As illustrated in <FIG>, an armrest cover <NUM> covers the brackets and sensors, protecting the sensors and also providing improved aesthetics to the seat. As illustrated, even a very small occupant of the seat (e.g., with a rise of two inches from the seat bottom) will be detected by using the angled cross formation for the through sensors. In other words, in the demonstrated example, an occupant with very narrow legs (e.g., <NUM>-inch diameter) would cause an interruption in the angled cross formation of the light beams, causing an object to be detected in the seat. <FIG> shows a close up view of the seat bottom and an object that rises two inches above the seat bottom. The object intersects the light beams <NUM>, causing the occupant to be detected in the seat. <FIG> illustrates the same example from an overhead view. <FIG> illustrates the <NUM>-inch diameter of the mock occupant in the seat. <FIG> are alternative overhead views, illustrating the coverage of the angled cross formation of the through sensor light beams.

<FIG> is a flowchart, illustrating a process <NUM> for ride control, performed by a control system, based upon outputs from the object detection system, in accordance with embodiments of the present disclosure. The process <NUM> begins by receiving an output from the object detection system (block <NUM>). The output indicates a detected occupancy status of a particular seat in an entertainment attraction. For example, the output could be an indication that seat <NUM> is occupied (e.g., an object is detected in seat <NUM>) or, alternatively, that seat <NUM> is not occupied (e.g., an object is not detected in seat <NUM>). The output may be provided by a processor of the objection detection system that generates the output based upon whether at least one of the light beams generated by the object detection system does not reach an expected receiver. In such a case, this may indicate that an object is detected (e.g., that a seat is occupied).

At decision block <NUM>, if the output indicates that an object is detected, optional targeted features may be triggered at occupied seats (block <NUM>). For example, videos or other graphical content may be presented to one or more occupied seats, while not providing these features to unoccupied seats. As another example, if occupancy is detected, an automated seat belt check can be performed by polling seat belt sensors for an indication of whether a seat belt is fastened for the occupied seat. Such a check could be limited to only occupied seats, resulting in a better understanding of whether guests are wearing seat belts, while reducing indications of unfastened seat belts for unoccupied seats.

If no object is detected (e.g., no seat occupancy is detected), at decision block <NUM>, a determination is made as to whether an object was expected (e.g., occupancy was expected). This can be determined by looking at temporal occupancy data to see if occupancy was previously detected during a current run of the attraction. If so, this may indicate that a guest should be in the seat, as occupancy should not change during an individual run of the attraction. In other words, in some embodiments, the occupancy status should not change between the beginning and the end of an entertainment attraction experience. If such an occupancy change occurs (e.g., an object is expected but not detected), safety safeguards may be implemented (block <NUM>). For example, the attraction may halt until the disparity is solved. Otherwise, if there is no disparity (e.g., no object is detected, but no object is expected) normal attraction operation may be maintained (block <NUM>).

Process <NUM> is just one example of how the object detection system described herein could be used. Discussion of this process <NUM> is not intended to limit the scope of how the current object detection system is used. Indeed, there may be many other uses for occupancy detection with regard to a seat.

Claim 1:
An entertainment attraction seat (102A-G; 200A-B; <NUM>) comprising an object detection system (104A-G) for detecting occupancy of the entertainment attraction seat (102A-G; 200A-B; <NUM>), characterized in that the object detection system (104A-G) comprises:
a first sensor comprising a first emitter (E) and a first receiver (R);
a second sensor comprising a second emitter (E) and a second receiver (R);
wherein the first sensor and the second sensor are arranged such that light beams (<NUM>) generated by the first emitter (E) and the second emitter (E) form an angled cross formation (<NUM>);
a processor configured to:
identify whether at least one of the light beams (<NUM>) does not reach an expected receiver of the first receiver (R) or the second receiver (R); and
provide an indication that an object is detected or that an object is not detected, based upon whether the at least one of the light beams (<NUM>) does not reach the expected receiver, to detect occupancy of the entertainment attraction seat (102A-G; 200A-B; <NUM>),
wherein, for each of the first and second sensors, the emitter (E) and receiver (R) of the respective sensor are disposed in different horizontal and vertical positions in opposing armrests (<NUM>; <NUM>) of the entertainment attraction seat (102A-G; 200A-B; <NUM>).