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Universal Awarded Patent for Self-Propelled Water Ride Vehicles
Universal could be charting a new course for future water rides after being awarded a patent for a self-propelled ride vehicle system that uses flowing fluid to help move vehicles through an attraction. The technology is designed as an alternative to more traditional systems that rely on wheels, chains, tracks or other mechanical components beneath a ride vehicle, which Universal notes can create pinch points or other hazards around loading and unloading areas.
Related: Epic Universe Multipurpose Building Takes Shape as Construction Advances
Instead, the patented concept uses an apparatus beneath the vehicle that interacts with a separate flow of fluid to provide propulsion. In a water ride, guests could travel through a visible upper trough while a second trough underneath contains the fluid used to move the vehicle. Adjustable surfaces on the vehicle could interact with that lower flow to change speed or direction, potentially giving ride designers more control over how vehicles move through an attraction. The patent also suggests those surfaces could be controlled remotely by the ride system or, in some applications, locally from aboard the vehicle.
Gates placed within the fluid system could also be used to slow or stop vehicles by changing the flow. While the patent naturally brings attractions like Fyre Drill at Epic Universe to mind, Universal says the technology could work across several types of ride platforms, including vehicles that travel on wheels rather than through water. As always with theme park patents, there is no guarantee this particular system will ever make its way into an actual attraction, but it gives Universal another interesting tool in the ride-development toolbox.
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