KUKA Robotic Arm Coming To EPCOT?
Walt Disney World: A new exhibit at EPCOT's Innoventions is expected to utilize the KUKA Robotic Arm Technology.
From James Rao
Posted April 16, 2009 at 8:40 AM
Raytheon will launch a new exhibit at Epcot's Innoventions in 2009. You can view the press release
here.
Rumors indicate that at the "Sum of All Thrills" exhibit, guests will design their own roller coaster, jet plane, or bobsled ride and experience a customized simulator experience, with the simulator itself being on a KUKA robotic arm.
Disney passed on the KUKA technology for a major ride attraction a few years back largely due to capacity issues (see Legoland's Knights Tournament for an example of the technology - and the slow loading lines). It has been widely rumored that Universal will be using the KUKA tech for their featured attraction in the new Harry Potter area of IOA. Now Disney may be bringing the tech to Innoventions as an educational exhibit.
Intrigued?
From Tim W
Posted April 16, 2009 at 9:22 AM
they should develop their own attraction using the technology as well. nevertheless it still sounds cool.
Sounds cool, but isn't this similar to Cyber Space Mountain at Disneyquest which I think should be moved to Innoventions if the Disneyquest thing ever goes down.
From James Rao
Posted April 16, 2009 at 11:01 AM
Cyberspace MT does not use the KUKA tech, does it? I thought it was more of a traditional simulator? Never been to DisneyQuest though, so I am no expert.
Neither am I :)
Your description of designing your own ride sounded like Cyber Space Mountain in which you design your own roller coaster and ride it in a simulator. Actually, kinda cool!
From James Rao
Posted April 18, 2009 at 3:47 AM
A few more details are provide at this
link, as well as a little info on how the attraction differs from Cyberspace MT. I'm there for ya, Anthony! We'll both be experts soon! ;)
This exhibit is almost exactly like having a version of Legoland's Knight's Tournament inside Innoventions. The lines are going to be monstrous!
From James Rao
Posted October 14, 2009 at 3:15 AM
The
SUM OF ALL THRILLS is set to open to park goers this week. If anyone gets a chance to visit this new EPCOT Innoventions attraction, please let the rest of us know how it is.
I will be at EPCOT a week from today. I will make sure to check it out!
From James Rao
Posted October 14, 2009 at 11:26 AM
Thanks, Anthony. And have a great trip!
From Tim W
Posted October 14, 2009 at 12:13 PM
Cool. Can't wait to ride it in about a month and a half!
From James Rao
Posted October 14, 2009 at 8:07 PM
In case anyone missed it, SUM made the
Blog Flume today, as well as a big write up and video over at
Orlando Attractions Magazine.
The ride looks like a lot of fun... something everyone can enjoy. I am curious about line mgmt and crowds, though, as it seems like it would take a while to design your ride, not to mention experience it.
Anyway, let me know all the details when you get back, you two.
From sarah g
Posted October 15, 2009 at 5:53 PM
Leaving epcot now, and experienced the sum of all thrills this afternoon.
When you enter the line queue, you are given plastic swipe cards. You enter a "briefing area" with apx 5 other groups where you watch a typical preshow. They do a good job explaining how the tools work and how you develop your ride.
After you leave the briefing area, you find your flatscreen assigned to your group. You can choose a bobsled, a roller coaster or a jet flight. We did the roller coaster. You choose your first element (easier by being a coaster junkie) and use a ruler tool to adjust the height. Basically, this is where the math and science come in. You manually adjust the height and speed of your element to where it is functional. You get to choose 4 additional elements the same way. When you are done, you get to "choose" a two word name. You have options for the first word and options for the second.
After this a cast member will direct you to one of two sides, each with two kuka arms. They have lockers for your belongings. The cast members use your swipe card to pull up your creation, verify that you are okay with the number of inversions you've chosen and that your heights are within the allowed range.
You are harnessed into the kuka quite comfortably and you have a large screen that includes a live cam of your riding partner. It gives a POV of your ride, much like Disneyquest but much more advanced.
It was definitely fun and a different kind of ride experience. My husband and I both commented that it could be made better if they could incorporate any kind of g forces, or even wind. Elements like a double helix or thread the needle would be made so much more.... Well, fun.
Given the very short wait time, the multitude of possibilities and just the sheer uniqueness of the attraction, this is something I will make part of my epcot routine.
Before the tequila bar, of course.
Enjoy, fellow tpi readers!!!!
From James Rao
Posted October 16, 2009 at 3:24 AM
Thanks for all the info, Sarah. A few questions:
1) Do you just pick the five coaster elements and then the rest of the track layout is filled in by the computer? And what elements can you choose from?
2) About how long was the actual "ride"?
3) Based on your off season experience, how well do you think the attraction will handle the larger summer and holiday crowds? (I am just trying to get a feel for how to fit the attraction into a general Epcot touring plan).
From James Rao
Posted October 16, 2009 at 3:24 AM
Just found another review over at
Yesterland.
It has an interesting quote about ride capacity: With just four robotic arms each seating only two guests, and with a fairly lengthy cycle time between guests, Sum of all Thrills has an anemic rider throughput. One Cast Member estimated a capacity of 190 guests per hour, but even this low number seems a bit optimistic.
Knights' Tournament at Legoland has the same type of capacity issues, and it is because of this problem that Disney did not go all out in designing a new E-Ticket using Kuka robotic arms like Universal is doing with Harry Potter.
So this information all begs the question, how is Universal going to overcome the inherent low capacity of these Kuka rides with their new Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey attraction?
Now that could be a problem and a reason why Disney did not jump on the bandwagon of this new technology so quickly. They are real BIG on efficent attractions. If 190 is true, they are going to have alot of lines there. But hey, its Innoventions, new ideas, etc.
From Raul Araoz
Posted October 16, 2009 at 9:06 AM
The
video of the Epcot attraction shows that it lasts about a minute.
It is important to remember that, unlike the Epcot and Legoland Kuka attractions, the Harry Potter Kuka arms will be attached to a moving car. There will be dozens of these ride vehicles going through the attraction at once. It is not a stop-and-start ride like the other two.
From Phil Beska
Posted October 16, 2009 at 9:05 AM
The universal ride features the Kuka Arms on a track system, so the ride capacity will be far from the type of numbers that Sum of all Thrills is delivering. Plus don't forget, you have to design your experience with SOAT, where as Potter will be all pre-programmed, just walk up and get on. I imagine, aside from the use of the arms, both attractions will offer completely different experiences including cue time and ride capacity.
From James Rao
Posted October 16, 2009 at 2:18 PM
^^Good points, you two. Also, there are rumored to be more seats (six?) in the Harry Potter attraction, which should also increase capacity. Therefore, it certainly shouldn't be any worse for rider throughput than, maybe, Spider-Man, I guess.
From Jeff M
Posted October 16, 2009 at 5:42 PM
All valid points brought to this discussion. I never once heard the opinion that, "Disney beat out Universal with having this ride type of system available first!". Or did I miss it??? Lots of other posts seem to state that it is important to mention. Yes....they will be different, but do you not think that the "average joe" will say, I saw it at Disney first???
Hey....just a thought? or am I stretching????
From James Rao
Posted October 16, 2009 at 7:40 PM
I think the Harry potter experience is going to be so different...so immersive...that most folks won't associate it with Knights' Tournament at Legoland, or Sum of All Thrills at Epcot. First won't matter because Universal is going to take the technology to a whole new level.
Still, the way I look at it is this: Disney is getting something new, and as long as what they are getting has nothing to do with reality TV (curse you AI Experience!) that can't be a bad thing by any means. And Innoventions is (hopefully) becoming what DisneyQuest should have been all along: a place for families to experience the latest technology + entertainment have to offer. And that is a win-win if you ask me.
From Jeff M
Posted October 17, 2009 at 5:29 PM
James.... I do not dissagree with you a bit! I'm sure that it will be non-comparitive, but my point was only to say that there are the die-hard Disney people and they can say that Disney has brought the Kuka arms in before Universal! Nothing more or less, but Disney can still claim to have the technology available to experience before Universal!
Like I stated... I'm surprised that we haven't heard this competitive discussion yet! I guess the Disney die-hards on this site just have nothing to add, or they have given up the debate between the two power-houses in the Orlando area???
Funny, I expected to hear more toward this, but I guess Universal takes this round of debate??? :) :)
From Casey S.
Posted October 17, 2009 at 10:12 PM
Just rode today. everything is exactly as already posted. to clear up a few things. The coaster is only your chosen elements meaning... it is a very short ride. It is incredibly smooth in its movements unlike anything else in the simulator vein. downside.... the ride is really boring. with you car tilting and gliding and spinning upside down so smoothly it would be a great ride if not for the simple animation screen in front of you blocking your view. no g's felt. I think moving on a track through sets as planned in harry potter will be leaps above this currant use of the tec.
From Casey S.
Posted October 17, 2009 at 10:19 PM
on crowds- today was a very busy sat at EPCOT. SOAT has about a 30 min wait... but that is a very short line of people taking a long time to load through. the attraction is not really advertised at all so most guest who skip inoventions will never know this is inside.
Every time I see the thread title I read KukLa arm and figure it's something to do with the hand of the puppeteer holding the clownish puppet ... or was that the dragon? No, Ollie was the dragon, right? Now where's Fran ...
I was watching a video of the pre-ride video stuff for Sum of All Thrills and it seemed like all the actors had extra white and straight teeth and a lisp. What's the background story on that aspect?
^ Good one !
To sound more like a kid?
I didn't really notice that, but its a great ride!
What's the protocol about linking to other sites from here? Anyway, if you go to parksleuth website, you'll see the video I am talking about. During the pre-ride video, the actors have unusually white and straight teeth that seem to be altering the way they speak. I suspect it's part of the theme of the ride or they're in character. I just can't imagine what the theme is.
From James Rao
Posted October 31, 2009 at 2:58 PM
According to TPI's guidelines for writers, links are fine:
Attribute all information you get from other sources to those sources, whether they be a person, a website or another publication.
Do not submit someone else's comment or article as your own. If you want to tell people about an article elsewhere, please provide a hyperlink, rather than copying and pasting the entire article.
And I'm going to take this opportunity, expressing my own TOTALLY ORIGINAL OPINION by reminding my TPI kin that you should not submit someone else's comment or article as your own.
From James Rao
Posted October 31, 2009 at 7:50 PM
And be careful with runaway HTML tags!
This discussion has been archived, and is not accepting additional responses.