Monorail Automation Testing

[monothingie]

This entire week the express beam has been closed during the daytime. It looks like monorail silver and red are being used to test the automation systems. I wish I got some pictures of it but there was one point where they were almost nose to nose at the TTC. It loooks like silver is the test subject because it has been shuttling back and forth the most and there are a lot of monorail cast members riding in the end cabs.

If anyone knows anything more I'd love to hear it.

 

[Tegan pilots a chicken]

Well, there goes my hopes of ever becoming a Monorail pilot. Ahh, such is progress.

 

[peter11435]

Well, there goes my hopes of ever becoming a Monorail pilot. Ahh, such is progress.

They will still have pilots

 

[trainplane3]

I was waiting to leave the Contemporary when they shut the resort line down for this. Silver sat next to our monorail for about 20 seconds. There were several of what looked like sensors and cameras in the front and rear cockpits. Later in the day, I took a look at orange, I think that's what we were on, and it didn't have as many as silver did in the front.

 

[RSoxNo1]

The automated monorails will only be for select times per day. Monorail pilots will still very much be necessary.

 

[monothingie]

If someone can get a picture of monorail blue there are some sort of decals on the stripe on the end cabs. I've been managing to miss it each time it passes.

 

[oceanbreeze77]

I would rather ride a monorail with a pilot.

 

[Clamman73]

If someone can get a picture of monorail blue there are some sort of decals on the stripe on the end cabs. I've been managing to miss it each time it passes.

Blue was on Epcot today. Here's a pic of a pic that I took today.
What was weird today on Epcot was that yellow, blue and green were on it before opening.

 

[disney4life2008]

Out of curiosity, is the tram at mco automated or pilot?

 

[Rteetz]

Out of curiosity, is the tram at mco automated or pilot?

Automated.

 

[articos]

Monorail Blue has a "honorary" decal on it dedicated to Jim Vendur, a longtime WDW Transportation executive. There's a close-up of it in another thread here somewhere.

 

[jpeden]

The automated monorails will only be for select times per day. Monorail pilots will still very much be necessary.

If they're still going to need pilots, and they're only going to use automation for select times per day, why waste the time and expense on this project? Seems like a waste of resources to me.

 

[aw14]

They will still have pilots

thank goodness. thats my retirement job

 

[dreamfinder]

If they're still going to need pilots, and they're only going to use automation for select times per day, why waste the time and expense on this project? Seems like a waste of resources to me.

Helps to eliminate stupid people issues.

 

[flynnibus]

The automated monorails will only be for select times per day. Monorail pilots will still very much be necessary.

That makes... basically zero sense. It makes sense for people to manage the load/unload.. but zero to infer that PILOTS are needed at different times of day. If you make a system automated, it has to be safe under all the operating conditions you'll expose it to. If you are only going to automate scenarios like.. the 'low capacity' train count and not your normal operating conditions.. you've wasted a ton. If you don't automate enough scenarios that you run manual a significant amount of your normal operating cycles... then you've not addressed the problems that manual operation presented.. so you've not really made progress.

The only thing 'automated some of the time' would try to address is labor costs.. and we know Disney isn't doing this because of labor. That has to be trivial vs the expense when Disney is paying chump change for drivers.

 

[flynnibus]

Out of curiosity, is the tram at mco automated or pilot?

The trams at MCO are shuttles.. they just go back and forth in the same track without any other traffic on their beam.

 

[flynnibus]

Helps to eliminate stupid people issues.

And would still leave you exposed to said stupid issues at the most difficult times.. and not really resolve anything.

 

[wdwfan22]

It was my understanding that the monorail pilot will still be on board for observation and to operate the doors.

 

[BernardandBianca]

The trams at MCO are shuttles.. they just go back and forth in the same track without any other traffic on their beam.

Unlike the monorails at TDL, which appear to be similar in use as these.

 

[Figment2005]

That makes... basically zero sense. It makes sense for people to manage the load/unload.. but zero to infer that PILOTS are needed at different times of day. If you make a system automated, it has to be safe under all the operating conditions you'll expose it to. If you are only going to automate scenarios like.. the 'low capacity' train count and not your normal operating conditions.. you've wasted a ton. If you don't automate enough scenarios that you run manual a significant amount of your normal operating cycles... then you've not addressed the problems that manual operation presented.. so you've not really made progress.

The only thing 'automated some of the time' would try to address is labor costs.. and we know Disney isn't doing this because of labor. That has to be trivial vs the expense when Disney is paying chump change for drivers.

Emergency situations. What happens if the monorail were to break down on the open beam and there is nobody to contact in the front. There aren't walkways along the track like what would be necessary of the pilot were to be removed. The new system is 75% better positioning system and 25% more efficient transport.