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Roller coaster simulator

  • US 6,007,338 A
  • Filed: 11/17/1997
  • Issued: 12/28/1999
  • Est. Priority Date: 11/17/1997
  • Status: Expired due to Term
First Claim
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1. A roller coaster simulator comprising:

  • a design station which can be used by a plurality of guests to design a simulated roller coaster, said design station linked to a computer shared by other similar design stations having access to pre-determined landscape images and roller coaster segments which can be selected by a guest, data representing the three dimensional size and shape of each landscape image and roller coaster segment, and predetermined rules for determining if a first roller coaster segment can be placed at a selected position on said landscape image to start a roller coaster design and if subsequent roller coaster segments selected by the guest can be joined to a free end of a placed roller coaster segment at a selected position on said landscape image as the guest designs a roller coaster, said design station including means for associating guest identification data with each roller coaster design created on said design station;

    storage means shared by a plurality of design stations for storing and accessing data related to each roller coaster design completed by said guest at the design station;

    a simulator vehicle for simulating the motion of a roller coaster, and including a passenger compartment, at least one passenger seat mounted in said passenger compartment, a safety harness for securing said guest in said passenger seat, and a means for moving said passenger compartment to simulate the motion of a roller coaster;

    a means for creating a moving picture of a virtual ride of a selected roller coaster design stored in said storage means from the perspective of said guest when seated in said passenger seat, said means for creating a moving picture mounted outside said simulator vehicle;

    a projector mounted in said simulator vehicle for displaying said moving picture to a passenger, said projector connected to said means for creating a moving picture by a cable; and

    a first controller means for accessing said data stored in said storage means and for using said data to control and synchronize the motion of the passenger compartment with the moving picture to create a realistic simulation of said selected roller coaster design.

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