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Thorpe Park: General Discussion

So, apologies if i'm behind the curve in all of this but are we thinking this is a new motor? I can't see the photgraphs, so not sure what is going down (no pun intended) up top.
 
Its just baffling to me, sprocket misalignment would only damage the chain first though, your not burning through a sprocket in 12 hours surely, the chain would go first

It could well be chain guide that was misaligned, and has worn down quickly... Would explain the kind of metal on metal sound people reported

Maybe components need to be removed to access the guide

So intriguing!
 
Didn't expect to be back here with Hyperia construction updates :p

New vip experience at Thorpe? Jokes aside they started very early this morning. Not gonna be sitting around

hyperia3rdjune2024-02.jpg


Not sure what this metal frame was for? But lots of straps waiting on the side ready to be used. Looks like something wrong with the lift chain at the top

hyperia3rdjune2024-08.jpg


Not sure if that structure ever got installed but at 2ish part of that frame was getting lifted up by cherry picker

hyperia3rdjune2024-30.jpg


More proof of it possibly being the lift chain at the top.

We don't officially know what the issue is. So just speculating

hyperia3rdjune2024-23.jpg


All jokes aside, fingers crossed they can get it fixed soon :)

Hyperia Repairs Underway June 3rd 2024 | Theme Park Guide

Work on repairing Hyperia has begun at Thorpe Park, it appears that the location of the issue with the new Mack Rides rollercoaster has been identifie
themeparkguide.co.uk themeparkguide.co.uk
 
DistortAMG said:
I think his comment was made in jest. That said we've been using the word AI for decades and decades for simple else if statements and ladder logic, so in that sense it is AI on the basis it will make basic decisions based on input conditions, which by definition is basic intelligence, it is also artifical being man made. A block system for example requires a basic level of intelligence on the PLC programme to operate, nothing on the level of modern AI, but knowing when a block is clear and then to release brakes and turn motors on a different part of the system is intelligence. The PLC's do have a level of AI. It won't make anything beyond basic decisions but it is intelligent and it is artificial.

AI in the modern sense of the word, which everyone commenting above is alluring to and what AI is now best known as in 2024, with machine learning and neural networks it is not however. A totally different beast. But the term AI is still correct. We currently do not have two diffrlerent words to seperate the two. But it is a term that has been used long before the modern take on AI has exploded. Just thought that was an important distinction to make. There is even a level of AI built into a calculator from the 1970's.

Anyway, this is going down a rabbit hole. Not to mention, being a little bit pedantic.
Click to expand...
Just had to jump back to this comment to make a correction. A PLC is not AI, in any definition of the word. Quite the opposite. PLC stands for Programable Logic Controller. As in pre-programed logic that the machine controls. There's no decision making going on. The PLC's role is to take inputs and convert them into outputs. For example, if A = B then allow C.

Using the block break example, all the PLC is doing is constantly checking to see if all the parameters are correct for allowing the train into the next section. If yes then it precedes. If no it shuts the system down.
That's why they are are excellent from a safety perspective to run rides. Unlike a computer that is capable of AI they won't deviate from a pre-programed sequence.

When we talk about PLC's "talking to each other" all that is being referred to is 2 or more PLC's running the same checks, which are synced together to confirm they are seeing the same inputs. No intelligence going on.

AI is one of those buzz words of the last 10 years that has had its meaning stretched way beyond what it really is. The way AI is described in DistortAMG's second paragraph is correct, but that's not just the modern meaning of AI, that's what it has always been.
 
Tim said:
Just had to jump back to this comment to make a correction. A PLC is not AI, in any definition of the word. Quite the opposite. PLC stands for Programable Logic Controller. As in pre-programed logic that the machine controls. There's no decision making going on. The PLC's role is to take inputs and convert them into outputs. For example, if A = B then allow C.

Using the block break example, all the PLC is doing is constantly checking to see if all the parameters are correct for allowing the train into the next section. If yes then it precedes. If no it shuts the system down.
That's why they are are excellent from a safety perspective to run rides. Unlike a computer that is capable of AI they won't deviate from a pre-programed sequence.

When we talk about PLC's "talking to each other" all that is being referred to is 2 or more PLC's running the same checks, which are synced together to confirm they are seeing the same inputs. No intelligence going on.

AI is one of those buzz words of the last 10 years that has had its meaning stretched way beyond what it really is. The way AI is described in DistortAMG's second paragraph is correct, but that's not just the modern meaning of AI, that's what it has always been.
Click to expand...

The main point I was making, was the word AI has been used Interchangeably for many, many decades and there is a clear distinction between the artifical intelligence in a PLC or calculator to the AI that we associate with the word today.

The definition of a PLC according to one of the biggest industry players.

"A PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) is a robust computer designed for industry that contains the logic and rulesets that make intelligent decisions to control automatic manufacturing production and processes."

It was over a decade ago now that we saw an abstract paper written that outlined a new level of intelliengece into PLC's, most modern PLCs now, over a decade later incorporte very similar things as outlined in the paper below.


I'm sorry but we will have to agree to disagree, there is a level of AI in PLCs, it is not the same as the AI that powers your Siri. But PLCs can make intelligent decisions, it needs to in order to operate a block system. That said, the intelligence is not great enough for it to learn and develop, but there is a level of intelligence there. Something the industry also agree on.

One more quote,

"PLCs are compact, yet powerful, automation devices which actively monitor input signals from various sources, including drives. The PLC uses this data to make intelligent real-time decisions that can guide the actions of these drives. This results in more reliable, cost-efficient operation of the application they control."


The "intelliengece" that is being referred to is not natural, it is man made, artifical, aka AI. Any intelligence in a computer is artifical. Doesn't matter if that intelliengece comes from the ladder logic we see in PLCs or neural networks seen for things like Siri. Intelligence doesn't mean it can learn and grow. It doesn't have to do that to be intelligent. Would you not agree?

I still maintain PLCs do have a level of intelligence. It's not much intelligence but it's there for sure. Without it, it wouldn't work as a PLC.

To be fair I think we are referring to the same thing just I call it AI, you don't. I am only naming it as the industry names it.
 
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