Friday, March 8, 2019

A thousand beams of light

It's Fun Friday again, so time for some more theme park tech to chew on. Today it's light beam sensors. I know, you're saying to yourself that's boring as crap, what are you writing about that for? Well, they are frankly everywhere and are completely integral to keeping things moving, and your experience a good one at the parks, and in everyday life.

First, some places you might have encountered these sensors in your normal life include the beam that keeps the garage door from closing on you, at the supermarket where they have one across the belt to keep your items from just plowing into the cashier, certain alarm systems. In a theme park, they tend to be more hidden. In some shows, you may notice an old fashioned turn style that you walk through, it clicks the number up one, and the staff member then knows how many people have come in and if they are going to fill up the theater. They can then cut off the line to avoid too many people trying to find seats. But in newer attractions, you might notice yourself passing between two flat panels with a pair of holes on each side. These are light beam sensors, and the reason there are two is so that they know what direction the person passing between the bars is headed. That way they can add or subtract the right number of guests in the attraction.

Another example would be on the tracks of a ride. As a ride vehicle passes along the track and breaks the beam the central system can register that it has passed. Now it accurately knows how many train vehicles are on each track section and can throw on the brakes if something goes wrong, like if a vehicle hasn't registered as leaving a track section that can only accommodate a single vehicle, the system can automatically register this and put the brakes on another vehicle entering that section and avoid a collision.

A lot rides on little beams of light in a park, or even in your home life. It's a technology that's been around for a very long time, but it works and it's reliable. And that's why you may just be trusting a beam of light next time you ride a roller coaster to keep you having a good time, and not getting hurt. 

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