LiDAR-Based Safety Envelope Detection with Accelerometer and DTW for Intrusion Localization in Roller Coasters

Area of Science:

• Robotics and Automation
• Transportation Safety
• Sensor Technology

Background:

• Traditional safety perimeters for autonomous systems differ from roller coaster needs due to passenger movement and environmental variability.
• Current roller coaster safety inspections using moving frames are inefficient and prone to errors.
• Standard safety volumes do not accurately represent the dynamic risks associated with roller coaster operations.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop a novel safety envelope detector (SE-detector) for roller coaster safety.
• To enhance the detection of intrusions and improve safety distance measurements.
• To increase the efficiency and reliability of roller coaster safety inspections.

Main Methods:

• Implementation of a customer-defined virtual safety envelope around roller coaster vehicles.
• Utilizing Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) for measuring safety distances and detecting obstacles.
• Integrating an accelerometer with dynamic time warping (DTW) algorithms to pinpoint intrusion locations based on vehicle acceleration.
• Employing a wide-angle camera for enhanced environmental perception.

Main Results:

• The SE-detector successfully creates a virtual safety envelope and measures safety distances.
• Obstacle intrusions are detected using LiDAR data.
• Vehicle acceleration data, processed with DTW, aids in pinpointing intrusion locations.
• The system records inspection results, offering a comprehensive safety assessment.

Conclusions:

• The developed SE-detector offers a significant advancement in roller coaster safety inspection.
• This technology improves the accuracy and efficiency of detecting potential collisions.
• The integrated system enhances overall safety by providing detailed and reliable inspection data.