Scalance W access point modules couple sensor communications onboard and offboard through a leaky coax cable installation along the track to the vehicles’ onboard Scalance W client modules. In addition, a Banner laser sensor is used as a fine positioning sensor by reading strips placed on the floor along the track. This gave us an Ethernet-based Profinet system with smart diagnostics at the far end of the system that could report back broken wire detection, short circuits, and any other fault detection for quick recovery."įour Pepperl + Fuchs proximity sensors in each vehicle read absolute position of the car in the attraction by reading binary codes along track. As we looked at the Siemens product line, the ET200 with high feature I/O enabled us to complete our suite of subsystems using Ethernet. "With ride control, we tested several different fieldbuses, but as rides became larger in scale, they demanded that we use remote I/O. We started using it in our audio systems and then moved it into show control. "We’ve watched many of our commercial systems move from proprietary to Ethernet over the years. "This is the first time Disney has used Ethernet throughout a ride," says Jody Gerstner, executive director, Show Systems Group, Disney.
"It’s easy to install and easy to diagnose if there are problems." "Everyone understands Ethernet," he says. He adds that the ride and game control demands of the "Toy Story Midway Mania" attraction, in addition to the broad acceptance and understanding Ethernet, made its use a simple choice.
Olaf Scheel, Siemens Energy & Automation OEM program manager for Disney, notes that Disney has used Ethernet before, "but not as the control bus system to collect I/O data to control a ride." In addition, Ethernet is used for all communications throughout the ride–within and between the ride and game control systems. Each zone has its own unique communications signals to manage ride progression, which are handled by 49 Siemens ET200S-PN remote I/O stations, each with several four channel discrete input high feature modules, four channel 0.5A discrete outputs, and a few two channel RO NO relay outputs.Ĭommunication between the onboard and wayside computers is handled over Ethernet via Profinet cabling and protocol using Scalance X208 switches. The vehicle identifies itself at each scene through a signal sent to the wayside computer. There are some 400 zones total in the ride–one of the largest zone counts ever deployed by Disney. Distinct vehicle movement, such as run, jog, and stop, is handled by the wayside controls for each zone of the attraction.
The S7 315 PLC controls the vehicle’s profile (speed and spin direction to assure orientation with the screen) and communicates the position of vehicle along the track throughout the ride.Īn S7 319 PLC with remote I/O is used for wayside control.
An industrial PC IL43 running WinCC Flexible 2007 Runtime 2048 Tags and Step7 v5.4 Professional is used for diagnosis and visualization of the ride.
Two sets of control systems–a ride control system and a game control system–are required to manage the vehicle movement through the attraction as well as the interaction between the guests and the action on screen.Įach vehicle is equipped with Siemens Simatic power supplies, a Simatic S7 315 PLC with centralized I/O (32 channel discrete input and 32 channel discrete output modules) for vehicle control, Simatic CP343-1 lean communications processor, Simatic FM350-2 counter module, and a Scalance W client module for wireless communication.