Operator Safety System (OSS)

Safety is always first in our minds. Every Consign system has been designed with your guests in mind. Incidents in the Amusement industry are quite rare and we want to do our part to keep it that way. However, in some of those rare tragic occurrences, it was not a guest that was injured, but a ride operator. Some parks have taken initiative by painting squares on the floor and having specific areas for their operators to stand. But there are no guarantees out there. In the course of a long season, there will most likely be times that an operator for one reason or another steps out of his or her assigned place. On busy days, there may be more operators working than operator control panels. Caught up in the rush of those days, accidents can happen. With this in mind, we addressed the question of how you can verify that all of your operators are kept safe while a ride is in motion.

The answer is our new Operator Safety System. Working together with you, we define the safety areas for operators to stand at whenever any ride motion occurs. If an operator leaves his or her assigned area for any reason, a ride motion stop will occur.

The OSS includes a control panel, allowing a ride supervisor to set the number of active operator stations with a key controlled switch. Operators are detected by the use of keyswitches or pressure sensitive mats, and one of four possible interfaces provides feedback to the staff. The system is self-checking and is fully redundant. Last but not least, the OSS can be installed completely independent of almost any ride control system out there. So even if you do not have a Consign control system, you can still incorporate the operator safety system into your ride.

ControlLogix 5000 Series Training Courses

Our latest control systems utilize the power of Allen Bradley's new ControlLogix series of processors. This new line is the next generation of controls with far more flexibility than the older PLC 5 series. We chose to move to this series to provide our customers with the latest in technology and a much longer life for their system.

Although we recommend the Rockwell RSLogix 5000 training course which covers the basics of the 5000 system and software, we are offering a specialized training course tailored to our control system. Our course focuses on how we utilize the 5000 system for an attraction and covers specific troubleshooting methods. The course is designed to familiarize personnel with the Consign system and can last anywhere from 3 to 5 days either at our office or on site.

Visual Basic Error Display

One of the most popular aspects of our control systems is our visual basic error display program. The program runs on any NT or above workstation connected by a serial cable to our processor. Through the interface, any errors that occur are transmitted to the workstation. The error program then displays the error number, description, and even methods to resolve the problem. Errors are also recorded in a text file with both a date and time stamp. When no errors have occured, general ride status messages are displayed. The error display program is quite inexpensive and can be installed into any ride with Allen Bradley controllers. For more details on our error display system, please click on the link below to open the following acrobat document.

Visual Basic Error Display V2.0 Documentation

ControlNet Upgrades

For those of you with an older system, we haven't forgotten about you. ControlNet has now jumped onto the scene with much better communication methods than we could ever devise with TTL cards. So get rid of them. We can upgrade your system to ControlNet, and eliminate all but one set of TTL cards. But that isn't the only advantage. Depending on the type of processor, scan times will be lower giving us the ability to program a much more advanced braking method. This results in smoother brake segment trimming controls, and quicker brake releases for your patrons. PLC to PLC and PC communication will be done entirely on ControlNet resulting in much faster update times. We also will upgrade your PC, installing RSLogix and our error display program. The new error display program logs and timestamps all your errors to a handy windows based text file. Lastly, you'll have the peace of mind that your system is no longer outdated and will be good for years to come.

Advanced Panelview

With our latest control systems, we have added an Allen Bradley Panelview touchscreen display system to the operator's booth. Our standard Panelview screens contain all the information necessary to operate the ride. For those of you that wish to avoid searching the code during an occasional error, or have special requests for information to be displayed, we have created a set of advanced Panelview screens. You'll find this information helpful to debug almost any problem that may occur. Whatever else you might want to see, we will add it on request.

This isn't just for parks that will receive our latest control system. The Panelview touchscreens can be customized and added to any system that is running ControlNet. Operations and Maintenance personnel will thank you for it.

3rd Party Control System Testing

So you just installed a brand new ride and everything seems to be working properly. However, with the growing concern for safety in the amusement industry, its time to start taking the next step. Hire a 3rd party contractor that will thoroughly test your new system and determine if there are any hidden safety problems in the system design.

We aren't trying to discredit anyone, but anyone can make a mistake or possibly not realize where a single failure point might exist. So bring in the experts. With our design and field experience, we can go through a complete check of any system in your park. You provide us with an initial checklist of tests that are to be performed; we'll execute the tests for you, and then provide you with proof that all of these tests have been performed. We can perform single point failure analysis, block zone logic testing, operator interface efficiency analysis, and any other tests that you may be concerned about. Remember that it never hurts to be thorough.