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Disney Launches Fireworks With Compressed Air
rtphokie writes "When Disney debuted its new firework show at Disneyland recently, they also debuted some new technology which uses compressed air to lift fireworks. This virtually eliminates the need for smoke-producing black powder and other materials at launch, significantly reducing ground-level smoke, and apparently: 'Disney is in the process of donating all seven patents associated with the new air launch technology to a non-profit organization so these patents can be licensed to other pyrotechnic providers'. Something to think about for those of us attending fireworks shows this weekend in the U.S."
... that's why compressed air launch is necessary.
needs no puny patents to create an aerial light and sound extravaganza.
Do not try to read the dupe, thats impossible. Instead, only try to realize the truth
What truth?
There is no dupe
What's the fun in fireworks if there's no boom when they're shot?
this takes all the entertainment out. like my mom used to say, its not fun and games until someone loses an eye.
I forget, are we supposed to like or dislike large entertainment corporations on Mondays?
Part of the whole fireworks experience for me, and I'm sure for others, is the bombarding of the senses: sight, sound, and even smell.
Fireworks with no gunpowder smell? With no black snow falling? I have so many memories of watching the fireworks over the lake in Epcot, the clouds of smoke only visible when the fireworks explode and light up the sky.
Sounds like something I could just watch on my computer or TV, if I wanted. I'll pass. It was bad enough that they had to take away Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, now they're robbing of me of smoke filled fireworks.
In other news, Disney has decided to release all of its old movies into the public domain. Says spokeman David Franz, "We realize that the DMCA and the Sonny Bono Copyright Extension Act were both mistakes that hurt the American public."
I wonder what happens if the firework explodes before the air tank is empty? Burning hot shards headed 200mph in all directions?
Disney apparently didn't get the memo about patents. They are supposed to hold onto them, write out thousands more of them in much more fuzzy terms, and then sue every person/company on the face of the earth if they have a one letter resemblence.
...how long it will be before you'll be able to buy one of those compressed air launchers at rest stops in South Carolina along route 95.
The release is very much lacking in details, but the concept is interesting. A friend of mine, a "licensed pyrotechnician," spent nearly three hours at our backyard launch (that rivaled any of the local shows) preparing powder and launch lines. The result was quite an investment in the firing equipment and materials; if the compressed air mechanism is really that efficient it will be reusable. Be clean and save money.
Start using the methods and devices commercially and you prevent them from being patented, everyone can use them freely.
Patent them and donate the patents to a non-profit, and you get a huge tax write off based on the assumed commercial value of the patents.
Disney isn't really doing anyone any favors here, they patent the common potato cannon and then donate the patents to a non-profit for the tax write off.
I've had enough abrasive sigs. Kittens are cute and fuzzy.
I read somewhere that the chemicals used to launch fireworks can contain toxic materials like lead...so thank you disney for generating a better technology!
Leave it to Disney to severely edit yet another Asian product...
Small potatoes make the steak look bigger.
That blows.
FLR
Is this really new technology? One can make cheap solenoid based air cannons that can do this quite easily, the plans are available openly for anyone willing to spend the time to google. I imagine what they use is very similar to the t-shirt launchers and whatnot at basketball games.
ps: is the Polaris Missle considered a "firework"?
Disney does something environmentally sensitive, by developing this technology and then DONATING it, and it gets run into the ground. Sigh.
I imagine these are safer for the technicians as well, no? I don't know how many people are injured each year by misfired rockets, but if this technology helps at least with the launching (if not with fireworks that explode in dengerous ways _after_ launch) this is of course entirely a good thing.
The cloud that's created from launch turns into the color of the current firework going off. It just adds to the experience. So does the smell of the gunpowder. I guess that's why laser shows bore me.
I also hate the crowds at firework shows. That's another rant.
It'll reduce Bottle Rocket wars down to an aiming contest. Instead of a crap-shoot on wether or not you'll escape with your hands intact.
SCO launches new Linux Distro with Compressed Methane!
Posted by BREAL69 on Monday June 28, @1:06PM
From the ba-da-bing dept.
breal writes "When SCO deputed its new CD-Delivering service, they also deputed some new technology which uses compressed methane to launch CDs to potential customers. Darl McBride reports that it significantly reduces the cost of their distribution. We're able to use employees and users alike to deliver our product! SCO also says it has patented the technology, which they call "Gas on DEMAND" which they plan on donating the patents to many non-profit organizations.'"
Looks like something at SCO smells fishy again.
Excuse me, I don't mean to impose, but I am the ocean
The potato gun of my DREAMS!!!!!!!!
"It'll destroy you if you try to make it mean anything to anyone but yourself." - Henry Rollins
Did anyone else notice Disney's stock drop RIGHT after this story was broken? Kinda makes you wonder...
Sure, just watch Farenheit 9/11 if you wish to be told what to think...
I work at Disneyland, and this is something that has been talked about quite a bit at work. I do crowd control for Fantasmic!, which also works during the fireworks to set up standing areas and keep walkways clear. The two reasons for using compressed air was, like the article said, to reduce smoke at launch, and to reduce the noise of them being launched. The former was achieved, but the latter seems to have turned for the worse. The fireworks do make quite a noise when they launch, but they seem to make an even louder 'boom' while bursting in the air. The residents in the surrounding neighborhoods have been complaining for years about the noise these fireworks produce, and the new series 'Disney's Imagine - A Fantasy In The Sky' was supposed to calm the burning tempers. It seems to have failed. Complaining about the fireworks at Disneyland is like complaining about living next to a railroad track. They were there when you moved in, so you must have known what you were getting yourself into. Oh, and by the way, the new firework show is quite lame. The music played has nothing to do with the fireworks that are going off, nor does it seem to 'fit in.' Okay, so maybe the music from the Lion King (The Circle Of Life) fits in, as they do launch circular fireworks, but who wants to see a hallow circle? Save your time and stress from the crowd by going to a traditional park on the 4th. It will be much more fun, I promise.
One year when I was a kid, we got front row seating at a fireworks show where the launching was done from an island in a small lake. (The lake shore defined what was the "front row".) We were close enough to see the people on the ground, and the glow from the fuse as the firworks went up in the air.
It rained on the day of the 4th, and apparently some of the powder in the launch tubes got wet. Quite a few of the fireworks went off at lower altitudes than intended. One particular launch went up about ten feet, came back down, lit on the ground of the launch site, paused a moment (during which the launch crew scattered), then went off on the ground. A couple seconds later, several more tubes launched. I don't know if the crew launched them, or the "extreme-low-altitude" firework did.
Obviously, launching with compressed air is immune to this problem...
Something to think about for those of us attending fireworks shows this weekend in the U.S.
So this brings up the question: where to see the best fireworks this weekend?
[Usually the best ones are over water because the added safety lets them use fireworks that are more dangerous over land, etc.]
"Provided by the management for your protection."
Can you say prior art? We've been using compressed to Chunk Punkins for years. We even put M80s in em... where's the dif? Just cuz they suckin off the PTO they get a patent on it? That's major BS-itude.
Our local company, Bartolotta's, and a number of other companies have already greatly increased the safety factor by using control panels to light off most of the fireworks. This means that for most of the fireworks, there are no people anywhere close to them during the actual show.
:)
As an aside, the Bartolotta's do the Big Bang in Milwaukee each year, at the start of Summerfest. This year there were an average of 6000 fireworks set off each minute for well over 20 minutes. It's impressive. I grew up about 3 miles from the Bartolotta grounds, where they would occasionally test fireworks. Pretty neat seeing fireworks in the middle of the winter.
You have enemies? Good. That means you've stood up for something, sometime in your life. --Winston Churchill
I was actually at Disney World (Orlando FL) about 3 days ago and saw their massive daily fireworks display at night. They fired off quite possibly thousands of dollars worth of fireworks using the traditional black powder. The amount of smoke in the sky grew as the fireworks went off and by the end of the show there was a massive cloud of smoke -- looked like man-made clouds.
Anyway, while some might say the smoke is unnecessary I think it added to the overall effectiveness of the show. The smoke created a great backdrop for the fireworks that literally made the sky light up with colors. Quite spectacular.
If I can get this device armed with an M80, I'll be set!
I think the note about it being years in development was correct. My boss from about 6 years ago worked on the imagineering team that was developing this technology. His portion was the miniature electronics on the projectiles that controlled the timing of the detonations.
He had some wooden balls that were used as test projectiles for the launching mechanism, and would amuse us with stories of how they'd have to seek cover for when the balls would return. A lot of his effort went into making sure that the communication between the launch tube and the projectiles was correct (apparently, the chip inside the projectile had to be told to stop listening for a few milliseconds during launch or it would see some false signals)
e to the i pi equals negative one
Lets face it. Fireworks are nothing more than mortars with a slightly mistimed fuse and a non-fragmentary casing.
Using any form of explosive to launch this is dangerous. The tubes must withstand the tremendous launch pressure. There is also the severe risk of burning ashes falling back into the cylinder complex and igniting a shell from the top down- at which point you have a buring bomb waiting for the heat to fry the launch charge.
Modern shows alleviate nearly all of these problems... but I've still witnessed a number of accidents- the most memorable (for me) was when an ash fell into a mortar array atop the Citibank tower in Indianapolis- the entire rooftop 'lit up'. Someone was severely burned, and (I believe) lived... burned over a good portion of his body.
Non-flammable launches won't eliminate (I'm going to miss the downwind smell, sigh) misfires in the tubes, but they should lower the risk during launch. It won't eliminate (or even affect) an ash falling into a shell, but at least you have less explosive contained in a small space waiting to go off.
Just my opinion, of course.
Thank you, Disney.
Does this work like those red plastic rockets I used to get as a kid that you would fill half-way with water then use a pump to pressurize it so it would launch into the air (of course the "landing" usually prevented more then a few flights).
nope...it was a publicity stunt...
5 /l ies_and_moore_.html
http://marccooper.typepad.com/marccooper/2004/0
Actually, this seems like a great idea. And since it's been possible to do it for ages, a very reasonable patent to make. Pretty ironic then that they're going to give this one away!
There's a number of people saying that taking away the smoke will spoil the effect. That's true, but you don't have to convert ALL the launched fireworks to smoke-free.
This means you still get the smoke (and smell), but not so much that it eventually blocks out all the cool effects, as can happen with the current firework launch method.
--> Beethoven
I don't know why but this article made me think of pop-bottle rockets I used to make. 2L plastic bottle, tire valve stem, and a foot air pump probably a pumped up version I assume
this sig intentionally left blank
I wish we had more holidays like Earth Day- where people are encouraged to participate. Modern life in the US has sort of lost the old idea of holidays- where you'd interact with a community, at the very least building relationships.
How helpful are the UN's "Special Days"?
The discovery channel (I think) ran a show on this many years ago.
Disneyland builds/built a lot of their computer control equipment in house. My dad made a lot of it, including "Mickey's Match" - the original computer-based fireworks launch system that was programmable.
Before that, a man named Mickey (i'm not making this up, the guy's name was Mickey) physcially ran around and attempted (pretty well, from what i hear) and manually lit the fireworks to coincide with the music. Eventually, he started using electrically fired squibs. My dad's system allowed folks to pre-program sequences to launch with electrically fired squibs that would be in time with the music.
Since you didn't run to Fry's in the mid 80's to pick up a Pentium III to run Star Tours ride control (actually, Star Tours runs on a 486 for its ride control, with one redundant computer for each simulator), a ton of the hardware for ride control, gate counters, etc. have all be built by hand by the Disneyland Sound department and WED.
Many of the rides at Disneyland have my dad's name on the circuit boards in them.
Just about every system, even to this day - are Z80 based. Its simple, its cheap, and they are bulletproof.
Some of the Disneyland items he's made...
- Invented/installed the fireflys in Pirates of the Carribean
- Came up with putting the green-eyed rats at the end of Pirates as you go up back to ground level. We have a bunch of them at home and put them in windows and under the Christmas tree
- Invented the light flicker-ers that have been used at Dland for almost 30 years to make plain lightbulbs in opaque houseings look like they are flame
- Real-time population counter for Disneyland. Even went to the president's office and installed the LED display on his desk (prior to the popularization of "computer networks")
- Completed the transition of all of Disneyland's audio and attraction control tapes to solid-state ROMs for playback. They used to have rooms FULL of huge tape bins with 1" wide magtapes that would spool into a big 1" x 40" x 20" bins and be one big long lopp track - literally. This took a long time becuase back in the early 90's when they did it, they needed to send out the tapes to special subcontractors that could digitize it.
Its neet to see Disneyland, and how its starting to come back a bit after the 90's trashing by Eisner (ptooey!) now that he's been emasculated a bit. Things are getting better, and he's still making all kinds of neat stuff.
I need to get to Disneyland more often now.. i haven' been in years.. and i used to go 3 times a month when i was a kid.
guns kill people like spoons make Rosie O'Donnell fat.
They simply chose not to buy the distribution rights, to let someone else take the grief and the profits. But they've covered (promoted) Moore ceaselessly on ABC News all week, including the Sunday morning show. Plus they've sold Moore ads as well. If they're nefarious bastards trying to suppress this daring movie, they're pretty incompetent at their work.
Obviously didn't stop the movie from finding its way into thousands of theaters.
Moore knew from the moment he started that Miramax wasn't going to buy his pic. He simply DELIBERATELY LIED to spin a business decision into a censorship case, betrayed by a partner bowing to unnamed pressures. He has since admitted his deception.
Just like there is no Spoon.
Seriously, it's more akin to a 'thwuuup' sound. A rifle makes a larger crack than most mortars fired off. Ideally all of the gas has reached near atmospheric pressure after firing- those are huge shells (20lbs to 50lbs isn't unusual)- a 2 or 3 atmoshperic discharge over a 9" opening isn't going to make much noise.
Disaster at the disney world resort as a compressed air tank exploded killing 5 people and wounding an animatronic character. Spokespeople hesitated to comment but said it may have been the work of a terrorist. In a rather amusing note a local school claimed responsibility saying that disney land is the most vile and horrible exploitation of children anywhere.
-Rights? What rights?
Remember the good 'ol days of aqua-net hairspray, a bag 'o potatoes, and a compressed air gun made out of PVC??? :)
I've never thought about putting fireworks in there... Thanks Disney!
spudtech
I second the Patenting the Obvious.
This is just another case of the USPTO giving out patents for damn near anything, without thought or consideration.
I'm going to patent breathing. Then I'll sue everything with lungs....
After a looking googling: "The Disney system was described in: Proceeding of the Second International Symposium on Fireworks. 1994 4", 6", and 8" shells are lifted altitude ranging from 100 feet to 2000. Using air pressure ranging from 20 psi to 120 psi. Their system "Uses an electronic ignitor assembly controlled by remote located computer to detonate the shell in the sky." No further description is provided, other then the statement; "The electronic ignitor need not be inserted in the shell until the actual use." The system is patented, perhaps the patent provides more information. Actually -- On further research. The ignition system is describe in detail in vol. 2! "This electronic ignitor uses an electrolytic capacitor for energy storage, a custom integrated circuit for programming logic and timing, and a conventional pyrotechnic squib for the ignition source." The timing resolution is reported to be; plus/minus 0.015 seconds! They system that releases the compressed air also send a launch sequence to the igniter."
Well they refused to publish it, but then again, I'm pretty sure all movie companies have descretion of what mpovies they ublish. Hell if I owned one, I sure wouldn't publish F 9/11.
But I don't think the exactly tried to keep it from being published elsewhere did they?
There's something of a revoltion going on in disney right now, leading to some confusing actions like the ones mentioned above. Hopefully Eisner is hone his way out.
I'd like to preface this by saying I really don't like the Disney Corporation. I really have to give them credit though. Developeing the technology to clean up the local air problem (seen here) caused by their nightly fireworks and then giving away the patents on the technology is amazing. Wow, I am actually impressed.
:)
All we need now if for Microsoft to give back the double click and I can die a happy man.
"Capital punishment makes the state into a murderer. Imprisonment makes the state into a gay dungeon-master"
- but I've got to imagine being on top of a 70 story building required some level of expertise.
I truly don't know what occurred up on that roof, the theory was it was a premature detonation due to falling debries, but in the pitch dark who could tell for sure what landed where....
We really need to streamline the patent, development and deployment process on this one and get these "boomless" fireworks into Iraq and Afghanistan so people can start celebrating their weddings again.
Now that, would be even better. Put all that military research and development to good use. Compressed air doesn't get you that much. With rail gun technology, you could possibly get many times the speed and height that you'd get through compressed air. Of course, your firework load may need to be modified to work as rail gun ammo, but....details, details.
um no it's not repressing free speech at all...
he was still free to say whatever he wanted & film it and then edit the film
he was in no stopped from making any statement or say anything
freedom of speech is being able to say whatever you want not have other people listen or buy your film to distribute it...
there's a real big difference between what you're saying & what actually happened
on a side note they didn't stop distribution...
I don't know why Disney decided to share the patents (the cynic in me says they did some research and realized that the public relations benefit outweighed the actual cost benefit).
Anything that reduces enviromental impact, distributed for free, is good.
Ok, I give up, why you?
"The Imagineers who tackled this challenge are thrilled with the breakthrough -- and they're already working on the next advancement."
Next advancement? Are they replacing the payload with a flashlight? Will there still be a boom at the top?
I'm not sure if I consider this progress.
Slashdot Syndrome: the sudden, extreme urge to correct someone in order to validate one's self.
The non-profit receiving the funds is the MPAA.
--
As a matter of fact, I am a lawyer. But I play an actor on TV.
When I set up a show, I bring mortar racks, shells and a firing system. The press release was kind of sketchy but I'm assuming I would need to bring a high pressure compressor (a Home Depot 175PSI compressor is not gonna launch a 5Lb shell 1500 feet with any reasonable mortar length). I would also need hundreds of feet of high pressure tubing (A finale rack is at least 100 feet from the main guns), and lots of fast (read expensive) air solenoids. It would take forever to set up a show like that.
Then there is the safety problems, thy don't say how they ignite the time fuze and verify it's burning before a tubeload of rapidly decompressing, cooling air hits the shell. I would like to see some dud data.
For a recurring display where you can leave the equiptment and just drop shells in the same tubes every night or week, this sounds like a dream though. I just can't see it coming to a municipal 4th of july show near you any time soon though.
Disney has been under fire for some time about the quantity of pollution generated by the fireworks show. This is mostly to get the AQMD off their backs and their neighbors off their backs. I wonder if they will bother to implement this in Florida ?
Here is an excerpt from miceage.com -
Rather, this surprise move by TDA is caused primarily with some hot water the Park has gotten in with the South Coast Air Quality Management District, or AQMD for short. Readers outside of Southern California may not be familiar with a government body like the AQMD, but they've been setting policy and regulating private enterprise in a successful attempt to reduce the amount of air pollution in Orange and Los Angeles counties for decades now. The Disneyland Resort is one of the 28,000 private businesses that operates with a permit from the AQMD, and is allowed a certain number of "pollution credits" each year. A business like Disneyland can earn credits by enrolling employees in clean air commuting plans that encourage Anaheim Cast Members to carpool, ride their bikes, or take the train to work. Disneyland Cast Members can earn a dollar per day each time they "Clean Air Commute", and Disneyland occasionally raises those stakes to three dollars per day and doles out the cash in paychecks or with gift certificates to Target or other big box retailers. While Disneyland earns credits with good citizen programs like those, it also loses credits by operating polluting engines such as on the Mark Twain or the parking lot trams. And as one of the biggest single site employers in Southern California with a huge physical plant of potential pollution sources, Disneyland often walks a fine line with the AQMD. Photo courtesy of Kevin Yee This regulatory environment that Disneyland operates in is what has led to a need to reduce the amount of smoke and pollution that the nightly fireworks displays pump into the air. Although the vocal group of Anaheim neighbors that got a decent amount of media attention last year with their constant complaints about the noisy and smoky Disneyland fireworks shows haven't helped matters, it's the more definable processes the AQMD uses to measure pollution that led to this situation. In fact, the AQMD's regulations are what led Disneyland to invest several million dollars into a new pneumatic air launching system installed just north of the park this past winter. It was hoped by TDA that this cleaner and less smoky process of launching fireworks into the air from a large block of modern launch tubes dubbed "The Black Forest" by Disneyland's pyro technicians would gain the park some leeway with the AQMD inspectors. Unfortunately however, while the new launch system was effective with the standard fireworks shells that shoot straight up, it left a great deal to be desired from an artistic standpoint with some of the more unique effects. When Believe returned for the Easter Vacation period after its long winter's absence, several of the key effects that defined the Believe show simply weren't able to be accomplished with the new launch system. Most noticeably, the shooting star effect used several times during the show almost ceased to exist. Instead of the graceful arc of a shooting star sailing over the Castle that the Believe designers created, the air launch tubes could only manage an effect that was more like an errant fireworks shell fizzling towards Tomorrowland. The show's original producer Steve Davison, and the artistic professionals of the Disneyland Entertainment Department, were not at all amused at what the new environmentally friendly launch system had done with their show. And within a few weeks the tinkering that had begun on Believe during surprise showings in May had turned into a realization that a new show was needed that would satisfy
In case anyone is interested, here is the fireworks page from How Stuff Works.
All you have to do is win a small series of local elections and then in 5 years go for congressman. 10 years after that you will be part of the oligarchy and can run for president.
The main thing is you have to REALLY want it and work hard for 15 years. Lazy people need not apply.
excitingthingstodo.blogspot.com
Agreed. I just couldn't get that scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail out of my head:
;)
"Help! Help! I'm being repressed!!!"
Repress is the wrong word to use. I also saw the comment about Disney not stopping distribution. Looks like I fell for Mr. Moore's publicity stunt myself!
So... change the example in my post to something along the lines of:
"If Disney had a publication agreement of some sort with Moore and then violated that agreement once they saw the inflamatory content in the film, I would personally tend to think of that as a repression of free speech in some way, shape, form, or fashion."
-- Stu
/. ID under 2,000. I feel old now.
They donate it to a non-profit (corporation) for licensing. This is quite different than just allowing the patents to expire (or not even getting them) and making an announcement to the public. No doubt the Disney-appointed people running the non-profit will be well paid by said non-profit.
http://slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=04/06/22/183920 7&mode=thread&tid=103&tid=126&tid= 99
10.0 caliber?
pussy.
I hunt with a 6.0 twin barrel elephant gun. if it doesnt rip your shoulder off if you fire both at once, then you're hunting with a woman's gun.
so I re-iterate......
pussy.
So true.
I remember seeing that they used compressed air years ago, on a Discovery Channel or Travel Channel special about fireworks. They also use tiny radio receivers in some of their bigger stuff so that it can be electronically shot out with the compressed air, then detonated at an exact time to coincide with a musical cue.
The press release even says they've done it for years.
I actually called one of the parties who were looking for a candidate to put on the ballot and run against the incumbent (for the district House of Representatives seat). They never called me back. Looks like I'll have to try to get in the Oligarchy club the old fasioned way: hit the lotto and buy my way in.
-- Stu
/. ID under 2,000. I feel old now.
It's a great idea, especially given that Disney is all about pneumatic actuators. It must have been some kind of "Aha!" moment for the inventor.
"You might as well get your son a ticket to hell as give him a five string banjo." -unknown minister
The fact that the technology is being donated to a third party pyrotechnic organization seems oddly benevolent. Cheers to Disney if this is altruistic.
:)
My twisted mind, however, thinks that this is a technology that could be profitable as a weapons technology. And my mind thinks that Disney's stockholders might be a bit uneasy having a large profit source coming from weapons licenses.
Transferring the technology into the hands of "others" and just accepting money over time is quite a lame way of dodging the nastiness, but it might also be one of the few options available to disney in an age where we at slashdot find sport in criticizing them no matter what they do.
They've been doing pneumatic launch at Walt Disney World in Florida since at least 1999. I saw the launch tubes personally.
http://ayup.co.uk/shuttup/shuttup2-0.html
Falklands Island war between the UK and Argentina - the Sheffield was sunk by an Exocet SSM whose explosive payload did not detonate. The damage (and subsequent sinking) was caused by the rocket fuel.
"No boom today. Boom tomorrow. Always boom tomorrow."
It's all fun and games until someone loses the key to the handcuffs.
You anti-corporation morons are a dime a dozen...
Having compressed air propel the firework during the launch phase of these "mortars" is pretty cool, it would actually increase reliability of the fireworks. Gunpowder is suceptible to changes in humidity, temperature, etc. and it doesn't always propel the basketball sized shell to the proper altitude. The new engineering problem will be to make sure the bursting charge is reliable with the compressed air cannon.
I would hate to see a fully loaded shell fall back down on the ground in the spectator area.
Read the EFF's Fair Use FAQ
chill out, man.
Disney is doing something nice for the environment, albeit possibly by coincidence. When was the last time YOU coincidentally did something good for the environment?
Be nice...
How on earth did they get patents for a large vertical spud gun?
i think it s good they chose not to distribute that lame movie.
maybe they just didnt like michael moore, he truly is a perfect asshole.
I'm surprised that Grucci didn't think of this first. They are usually at the forefront of fireworks technology.
The GeekNights podcast is going strong. Listen!
One of the best parts of the Epcot fireworks was watching the laser show on the Unisphere light up as it passed through the ground level smoke.
Which is environmentally better? Exploding gunpowder or burning fossil fuels? I truly don't know, but someone around here will probably answer in agonizing detail.
WWJD? JWRTFA!
Something to think about for those of us applying for a patent this weekend in the U.S.
Privacy is terrorism.
One of the fiercest defenders of its own IP is giving away 7 patents? I don't think so. There must be more to the story, as in they never owned the patents in the first place.
Linux, you magnificent bastard, I read the fucking manual!
Yep, and bingo was his name-o.
Your dad built the light flickering thing? I wrote code to simulate that box for the networked lighting control system in the Animal Kingdom park (and now all of the new parks). I had them send me one of the originals for comparison. The insides are an amazing tribute to analog electronics and optical computation.
///d@
Disney gets a tax write off.
I guess I don't get how that's a bad thing. Was Disney paying their taxes directly to you or something?
I hear someone in Maine got a tax write-off for a home office in 2002. You should go investigate.
"Walt Disney Imagineering has perfected a new innovation in fireworks launch technology..."
This is a lot better than the old innonvations I come up with.
I thought fireworks had been launched with compressed gasses (air among them) for thousands of years.
Maybe the method of compression varies, but still...
"We are not tolerant people. We prefer drastically effective solutions"
Sheesh. All this proves is that Disney and /. are both populated by pussies. If it doesn't burn and blow up, it's not a "firework"...
Tm
Support TBI Research: http://www.raisinhope.org
More bang for the buck (sorry, couldn't resist)
LETS DECOMPOSE & ENJOY ASSEMBLING
Disney does a fireworks show every single night. Rather than set everything up by hand they have set up reuseable fireworks guns. They use the air launch primarily because that way you can reuse the tube over and over without it getting hot and without the danger of a premature ignition on reloading. In a traditional show no reloading is done whatsoever because it is unnecessarily dangerous.
On the other hand, traditional shows are not going to set up airpowered gattling guns anytime soon. The expense of the equipment means that this won't be economical for traditional once-a-year shows for quite a while.
Michael
If this site(bottom of page - rockets & missles) is accurate, three quarters of makeup of traditional rockets is propellant. With that removed, it would seem a lot more space is available for the stars/effects portion of the charge. It seems this could pave the way for much more sophisticated effects being created, if this type of firework is predominant in professional displays...
"It is a solemn thought: dead, the noblest man's meat is inferior to pork."
If Disney is 'donating' the patents involved to a non-profit corporation, why do they bother patenting the ideas in the first place? Why not just publish a few articles in the Journal of Entertainment Pyrotechnology or Popular Mechanics or whatever and tell the world about it? It's not like someone else could come along, patent the ideas, and prevent Disney from using them.
One can only imagine that Disney and its non-profit partner will continue to control who can and cannot use the technology, otherwise there'd be no need for patents, no need for licenses. This is not exactly open-source engineering.
...and make an Elephant Fly!
Best Buy can have you arrested
I thought Disney was EVIL? I'm all confused!
Disney is actually quite focused on being Enviromentally sensitive.. Take a look at this site and you might be quite amazed
/ in dex.html
http://disney.go.com/corporate/environmentality
-=SiGH=-
It's also got something built into it to prevent ground level detonation should the launcher fail.
So are Anonymous Cowards.
People like Mike Hiskey at Los Alamos have been contracted by Disney to make fireworks that are based on organic molecules, and use smaller amounts of chemical salts for the color. He also works on high-nitrogen explosives, along with several others working in the specialized field of novel explosives design and synthesis.
I would be more approving of their 'donation' if I didn't read the part where they are still patenting it and where the non-profit organization will still be licensing it. It seems to me it's not that hard to setup a dummy non-profit company which ultimately works mostly for the benefit of Disney, while still raking in money from the patents. Or in other words, I smell a PR Stunt.
The Sims-Dudley Dynamite Gun was used in the Spanish-American war.
What a bunch of hot air.
Here is a pneumatic spud gun some friends of mine built a few years ago for a much smaller fireworks display. Yeah, the page is old and cheesy, but man that thing was fun. Its portable CO2-powered successor blew up in my back yard and took out a window, though. Bonus points if you can spot the retired child actor on that page.
Lets face it. Fireworks are nothing more than mortars with a slightly mistimed fuse and a non-fragmentary casing.
No, no... mortars are nothing more than fireworks with a slightly mistimed fuse and a fragmentary casing.
1/4 Way down the page
Two for two!
i'm pretty sure, with this information, that i got a glimpse of these at my grad night. there were about 100 schools there for grad night that night, and at the kiis music area they did a fireworks show every hour after 2 am and i didn't notice any smoke from the launching.
Launching a pyrotechnics device or any other projectile with an air gun is too obvious. I thought patents were not supposed to be granted in the first place for inventions that were too obvious.
If you happen to been in Geneva during the right year (the party only happens every few years) they have an international fireworks competition over the lake. Teams come from all over the world to compete. They claim it is the largest display in the world. This is directly after the Rave Parade, so it makes for a very loud night.
Lasers Controlled Games!
Something people here seem to be wondering is how this system will compare in safety of preventing ground explosions of the shells (in the event of a misfire or other mishap).
Something that I hope a lot of you know about is that the shells used in many displays are becoming very sophisticated. For a couple of years now they have had microcontrollers and other electronics in the shells, which can be programmed to cause the shells to do various effects (almost to the point of a custom effect shell). Some of these effects allow for timed designs - if the shell goes off right, you now have an expanding circle of "pixels" - so of you may have seen happy faces and hearts and similar designs done with shells. The microcontrollers can be programmed right before the launch to know when to explode (time or altitude based). I wouldn't be surprised if they don't have RF-based (hopefully over a secure encrypted channel) detonation. Perhaps even in-flight reconfiguration?
Fireworks have recently become really high-tech, thanks to virtually throwaway low-power microcontrollers which are small and easily integratable into the shell. While none of this removes the possibility of a ground explosion, it does help lessen it (electrical ignition rather than timed fuse), and allows for more impressive effects and displays...
Reason is the Path to God - Anon
Glad to hear we're advancing new technologies. We need everything we have to catch up to the Chinese in the fireworks arms race.
I have to drive home up the 5 Freeway here in SoCal and I know that on some nights that section of the Freeway is so obscured by fireworks smoke that brake lights go on.
Disney is Evil.
Disney is Evil.
Disney is a little less Evil.
Disney is Evil.
"A microprocessor... is a terrible thing to waste." --
GeneralEmergency
[
Damn! So at Career Day in class when kids would bring in their parents to describe their jobs, everyone else must've just sunk their head in their hands and sobbed, "I suck!"
Seriously, how does one follow an act like that? "I adjust actuarial tables to reflect trends in home insurance claims." (Kids begin to fidget and cry.)
Haven't we been squirting sub-launched ICBMs out of launch tubes using compressed air for like 20 years?
These are my friends, See how they glisten. See this one shine, how he smiles in the light.
I think Disney blows and this proves it.
So do you think they'll get minny mouse to provide the air pressure or what?
Note that this *doesn't* mean that anyone can use them for free. This means that for a "processing fee" you can get their permission to use the technology.
Nonprofit != public domain.
Just because they dontated them to a nonprofit organization doesn't mean that it'll be free.
Yaknow, instead of using compressed air, maybe you could achieve the same effect using a non-black-powder fuel-air mix?
My potato cannons are probably too crude. But imagine a simple fuel injector that atomizes a measured amount of a volatile fluid (alchohol, propane, ether, gasoline) in a combustion chamber with a spark (bbq grill igniter or spark plug). After each firing, flush the combustion chamber with fresh air and you are ready to shoot again. I imagine there are a number of handy components that could be repurposed for a DIY mortar capable of lofting fireworks.
Black powder puts out a lot of smoke, but I've never seen anything but fire and water vapor coming out of my alchohol/air potato gun barrels. (oh, and potatos, too.)
The Disney approach probably works quite nicely, the pumpkin-chucking guys all use compressed air, so there's probably good reason to go the Disney way. I imagine that a fuel/air propulsion system would be lighter and more portable.
I think the military is considering liquid-fuel/air in their next generation of artillery.
I had thought that Disney was using compressed air to launch their fireworks for many years already... And IIRC, the fireworks have tiny PICs on them so that they can be programmed just before launch, the launchers are not fixed and may be directed electronically - the combination of a precision launch at a precise speed and direction combined with a firework which detonated at a precise time after launch meant that they are able to repeat their firework displays again and again...
Probably the "news" is about Disney Corp making their patents royalty free...
-- The universe began. Life started on a billion worlds...
-- Except on one where stupidity was there first.
With the way the government is restricting things, don't put it past them to restrict the 'possession of compressed air, or devices to create .. '
---- Booth was a patriot ----
Having helped with a couple fireworks shows, they are much more fun to produce than they are to watch. The job is coveted by local fire departments and small pyrotechnic companies that are hard to get into (Family connections got me in). These people strongly resist measures that make it less fun to do, even electrical ignition was scoffed at as 'button pushing'. Much cooler to be right there in the blast and flash and rain of fire. Compressed air launch? LAME!
The Disney gatlin gun uses compressed air to launch shells in the 4 to 8 inch range. At least this was the sizes they launched a few years ago when I saw the system, maybe they they go up to 10 inch but Disney doesn't shoot many 12 inch shells anyway.
They have a large several hundred horsepower air compressor at each air launch system for the lifting oumph. No nitrogen involved as it is too expensive to use in the quantities required.
The shells are plastic encased shells that are a little enlongated (not sperical like normal shells, think eggish). Inside each shell is a little electronic circuit and electric match. The circuit is engergized by a inductive coil in the base of the fiberglass launch tube. The circuit doesn't use altitude per se but a timed interval instructed in the coding pulse at the launch event.
The bulk of the show will still be fired normally as they have lots of ground level effects and lots of smaller shells that would be too numerous to fire in the air launch system unless they have made great strides in its firing rate. I shot many a show that had 100 of 3 and 4 inch shells going up per second.
Still plenty of smoke to be smelled around the lake in Epcot.
Ken
Disney-fied fireworks sound like a really bad idea. I'm a huge fan of fireworks displays, and feel it would just not be the Fourth of July without smelling a little sulfur!
I've been to most every display on The Mall in Washington, DC for over 20 years. For July 4, 1986, I went to the Statue of Liberty centennial in NY, which was the most fantastic and outrageous display I've ever seen (they somehow removed ALL the cars in lower Manhattan to accommodate the crowds); it was surreal.
I highly recommend seeing a display close up. On The Mall in DC, I love to get as close as possible to the launch site near 17th Street. The experience of HEARING each launch, and the anticipation of seeing the shell rise above you before exploding in all its glory is FANTASTIC. You know when they're coming, and have some idea of how big they will be. It's much different than watching from far away, there's no delay between the flash and the bang--and you FEEL the big bangs. There's also all kinds of sizzling, screaming, and crackling that you don't here from far away. Most of the ground level smoke comes from personal sparklers, firecrackers, and such (I expect that these things are prohibited in the magic--and antiseptic--kingdom); smoke from the official display is not a problem.
The best place to see the fireworks on The Mall in DC would be from the Washington Monument grounds, but this area is mobbed with people from early in the day. Better to go just before Showtime to the much calmer and uncrowded Constitution Gardens (enter near 20th and Constitution Ave.). People think that the trees here will obstruct the view, but they don't, because most all of the fireworks will be STRAIT UP. They don't allow people to get TOO close, but you may see the rare bit of shell fragment or ash falling, don't be alarmed as they will burn out before getting to the ground. However, please do PAY ATTENTION to what's going on around you if you're out anywhere on the Fourth.
Fireworks would not be the same with some sissy air launcher. This cleaned-up fireworks technology might be appropriate in Disneyland, but I really hope that it stays there.
No fire? That blows.
"Derp de derp."
I can't remember what the problem was, but I thought some people did not like what DIsney did to the US release of this movie.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
The previous poster could be referring either to The Lion King or to the fact that Atlantis was eerily similar to Nadia: Secret of Blue Water. There's even a handy comparison chart.
Spooky!
"Max, come over here. French-Canadian bean soup. I want to pay. Let them leave me alone." - Dutch Schultz
it's called an air pistol, I had one when I was a kid....
http://slashdot.org/~GuyFawkes/journal
They're transferring the patents to a non-profit corporation so that they may be licensed (presumably on reasonable terms) to other pyrotechnic companies.
So why doesn't Disney transfer the copyright in Song of the South to a non-profit film preservation society?
Was this project done with Los Alamos National Laboratory? I remember they were working together on smokeless/reduced somke pyrotechnics a few years ago. Perhaps Disney decided to go this route instead of continuing on the joint project. Although, I'm sure this isn't was LANL was hoping for.
It seems far better to me to encourage companies to seek tax breaks by sharing their patents than to squat on them and use them as fuel for litigation.
Corporations as entities are not human and have no human morals, ethics or consciences. The only motivation they understand is the profit motivation. Thus, to make them have good behaviours, those behaviours must be financially rewarding.
So - they did good, give them their tax break cookie.
Ever hear of smokeless powder?
The military doesn't like smoking mortar's either.
Get a grip "el censor" Taco.....
depending on which charity, is a great way of making polical friends.
Disney in trouble with anyone?
I distinctly recall hearing about the compressed air launchers several years ago in a documentary about fireworks, probably Discovery Channel or something boring like that. I don't recall exactly when this was, but it had to be at least 3 or 4 years ago. They said Disney used compressed air to shoot fireworks, and detonated them by radio with with cheap microprocessorized detonators. The system was designed to give more accuracy over height of detonation, you just shot everything upwards at full force, and blew them up by computer controlled time delays based on calculations of weight of the projectile.
So anyway, this isn't exactly news, some people have known about this for years.
Am I alone in finding Disney's conflicting practices downright befuddling?
"We're a multi-billion dollar conglomerate buying up controlling interest in virtually every market."
"Watch 'Home on the Range,' a movie about small time businessmen getting ground under by the heel of evil corporations."
"We oppose the flow of information and ideas through copyrights expiring. 75 years isn't long enough!"
"We just made some revolutionary technology. Here, have it for free."
What corporate schizophrenia is going on here?
Happiness is relative, Based upon the way we live.
Here's to the good old days...
Innovation will happen in other places, the entertainment industry don't pay their way in taxes and a lot of resources are subsidised - what does that leave for the USA in a few years?
Patents ... Wouldn't the rubber balloon be considered "prior art" ?
An accelerometer could be used to calculate the muzzle velocity of the shell. You could use this to estimate the maximum elevation. But once the thing is in free fall, an accelerometer isn't going to tell you much.
"When the going gets weird, the weird turn pro" -- HST
Me too, when I fart, I makes some fireworks.
Meredith Brody Not.
This technology has been aronud for years, and was in fact developed by Disney pyrotechnics. They dubbed it the "whizz-bang" from the noise it makes, and they've been using it to launch the fireworks for the Epcot show over the lake since before I was there the last time which was (thinks back...) at least 6 years ago. Perhaps they're now patenting it or the patent office just now got to it in the piles of papers it has sitting around but this is older that Slashdot itself. (An eon in tech-time)
I haven't posted in so long, my sig is out of date.
Usenet posting from 1997 http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=en&lr=&ie=UTF-8 &safe=off&th=9a08b22c38dabaa5&rnum=3
-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+ *** http://www.mountainfort.com *** +-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-=-+-
Disney has been using this launch method for their fireworks for years. I remember visiting disneyland in elementary school (10+ years ago) and reading about their launch method, and this is the same system they were using then. Unique, yes. Kinda cool, yes. Possibly easier to choreograph than traditional BP-launched fireworks also. But still, nothing terribly new.
Insiders report that an even MORE amazing technology is in the works for next year:
Disney scientists have completely solved the nasty safety and environmental issues caused by using actual fire. Next year all fire will be replaced by those flappy cloth things they sell at the mall with colored lights under them.
to prevent The obvious noise problems the devices will simply be thrown into the air by the technician in a juggling fashion. To preserve the traditional level of entertainment the technician will whisper "boom" each time he throws a device.
I hope this exciting new technology becomes more common in the next few years.
Obama is a twitter sock puppet
They should sound similar. From a sound standpoint it only matters that high pressure gases are exploding out of the tube. The process that produced that pressure should be immaterial (unless it is ongoing).
If I were these guys, I would even try to tune the tubes so you get a nice mix of "cracks", "pops" and "booms."
A good example would be the fountains at the Bellagio (which is basically another reusable compressed gas launcher). The big tubes produce a fairly impressive thump when they fire despite the damping effect of the water.
Let's Repeat the Non-Conformist's Oath!
I Promise to be Different! (repeat)
I Promise to be Unique! (repeat)
I Promise Not to repeat things other people say!
I do my fireworks in the UK, peak season tends to mean damp evenings, hmmm, even summer evening shows mean condensing moisture in the air. New Year shows mean possibly rain, possibly snow. We always use flash tape to protect against sparks/ ash/ other misfire accidents and then plastic bag against moisture. Guess depends on where you do your shows. One year I was on the Isle of Skye and we had horizontal rain for 12 hours, luckily dropped off just before the show. But heck, mod grandparent up, or original poster got his facts wrong - ash falling into live mortar tubes? they must have flash taped all their stuff, surely?
:-) Nice post but seriously... this could close down small companies and freelancers, and mean only large companies can afford the hardware to fire shows. Ok so big shows right now use a lot of expensive equipment (laptops, electronic firing, etc) but it's still possible to do small shows (village celebrations, weddings, etc) with relatively simple set ups. Blackpowder shells cost a few dollars each and mortars (waxed cardboard or grp) don't cost much. You can hand fire or build a small firing box for a few dollars. It's possible for an individual / small team to have fun, make a little money, and work safely for not too much cash. How much investment will be required to purchased the whole compressed air firing system? Will this force the small players out, and reduce the fireworks industry to major companies and individuals working as franchises? is the future Disney/ Mcfireworks? Wonder how the patenting system will work out...
i spent a few months living with palestinians in the gaza strip. many people there own egyptian made kalishnakovs. the only thing i've ever seen them used for is shooting in the air at weddings, funerals, and political demonstrations. they are certainly completely useless against anything the israelis have. i don't think people there own these because they are a useful weapon. it's more symbolic, like the knives sikhs are required to carry as a part of their religion (though i don't mean to imply the symbolism in this case has anything to do with islam). i've never heard of anyone getting killed in that part of the world due to stray wedding bullets. but almost everyone i met there knew someone (usually a relative) who was killed by israeli weapons. in contrast, of all the people i met in israel, i never met anyone who actually knew someone who was killed by a suicide bomber.
for americans i think the situation is similar. as an american i can say that most of us don't actually know anyone who has been killed by terrorists. but most iraqis probably know someone who has been killed by americans. (i haven't been to iraq, though, so i don't know. i imagine most iraqis also probably know someone who was killed by saddam's regime -- another parallel with the palestinian situation, most people there know someone who was killed by the palestinian authority, though there is really no comparison between arafat's pathetic little israeli controlled dictatorship and saddam's police state).
anyway, i know this is off topic, and i ask the moderators to moderate it accordingly. but i think it is necessary to respond to people who equate muslims shooting in the air at weddings with terrorists. i don't think i met any terrorists in gaza (since they couldn't escape to terrorize anything even if they wanted to. most of them just wanted to escape to find work). and it's really hard to call iraqis resisting a foreign occupation of their own country terrorists.
sorry for posting AC. i'm really just too lazy to create an account.
In capitalist Disneyland, compressed air launches you!
(Honest, it does!)
I remember hearing about this many years ago early in high school, so I do not understand why it is being called new? is it just the final release version thats been in development for 10 ish years?
Well, while they're at it, can they please make them not so bright and colorful.
Research shows that 67% of those who use the term "research shows", are just making shit up.
Patent on compressed air launches? My dad's been doing that after pork n beans dinner since '83.
This is a wonderfull development. Seeing as what a massive source of pollution Fireworks are. The blackpowder used to launch the shells will no longer release carcinogenic sulfur-coal compounds into the air directly ONTOP of our population centers.
Everytime you watch a fireworks display, you are watching tonnes of heavy-metal and radioactive materials being peppered on your community. Making the evening not as wonderfull as Id like.
But, tell me, how is a prudent environmentalist to come out against fireworks? What will the public think about the environmentalists who want to take something generally considered joyfull and request its abolition?
on a more practical note, people need to be aware... we are capable of putting *some* amount of 'pollution' into our environment, but a wise person would not want to see so much that it adversly affects our (and nature's) health. If everyone decided "yes, we will release x,y and z of quatities a,b and c for this display and instead will stop buying/making/behaving in manner T" The trouble is we are not near this level of organization/understanding in the will of the public. Like most environmental issues that the public is directly connected to (consumption) they dont A) care or B) recognize their very real contribution to our looming problems.
So, who wants to martyr themeselves on the Anti-Fireworks Brigade?
the sumida river ones in tokyo are pretty sweet and last about 1.5 hours
Bring back the old version of slashdot.
Well, it's nice to know that a multi-billion dollar empire can follow where a teenager has boldy gone. ;)
"No officer, I didn't see any pink elephants, but that polka-dot rhinocerous scared the sh*t out of me."
"A witty saying proves nothing." ~Voltaire
"d'Oh!" ~Homer
Lovely- another poster was talking about how Disney's going for non-toxic fireworks components. Too bad the MagicFire devices have two nicely sized electrolytic capacitors onboard...probably lead solder, too.
Oh well...
Please help metamoderate.
But grass fires are half the fun of fireworks!
Seriously, I go up to this small town in Minnesota (Crosby) Where all the local bussinesses chip in for the best fireworks ever. They shoot them over a lake, they explode, and it rains smoke and ash down on the boats watching. If the wind is blowing in, debris rains down on the crowd. I've got a semi-spherical piece of cardboard from a few years back. The danger of fireworks is half the fun, though I doubt they have the budget to get these any soon.
Cool stuff, air.
SAILING MISHAP
When i went to disney land with my marching band a while ago we were allowed back stage to get ready. Backstage they had these fireworks lauchers in an electrified chainlink fenced off area. And they told us that it was their smokeless fireworks system. If anyone took a photo of those they would get their camera confiscated and the film would dissapear. Of course what does someone do but take a photo hile we are dressing and gets their camera taken. And we had some cool ( were in high school) picuters.
This technology isn't at all new.
They trusted it enough to use in the shows.
Never Smoke A Banana.
I saw these about 10 years ago for Calgary's 100th anniversary as a city. They had two of them setup and produced the best coordinated fireworks i've ever seen. Not to mention they had lasers and a live techno band jamming along.
How disney managed to achieve patents just goes to show the patent system is not working(F%!$)
Talking about Disney, DisneyWorld@Gmail.com is available for ONLY $300. http://gmailxchange.blogspot.com/
*note: Pixar films have been exempted
itadakimasu
Searching USPTO.GOV, I find US Patents 5739462 and 5339741 that describe the 'preferred embodiments' of Eisner's pnuematic launch systems. There are some useful diagrams, and even some relevent design data. For example in 5339741, column 10, we find that tank pressure ranges from 20 to 150 psig, and the exit velocity can reach 500 ft/sec. Even more amazing is that a key component is divulged. A fast acting air valve is required to release air in less than 15 mS. Fisher Controls 8 inch butterfly valve, Type 1066 with an 8522 body is stated as suitable. Good stuff!
My dad's an accountant.
Vino, gyno, and techno -Bruce Sterling
This is actually an older technology that was developed by Disney years back from what I remember. They previewed the gun using compressed air quite a long time ago on a pyrotechnics video. They are apparently also one of the leaders in developing graphical pyrotechnic displays.
+5 funny
I was at a fireworks conference back in the late 90's where Disney showed off there compressed air system for shooting fireworks. it was sort of like a relvolver gun but used compressed air from a very large tank. The really cool thing was all the effort that they went in to making the timing come out right. They are using a small chip device that can be programmed with a precise delay before self destructing and setting off the firework.
When you shoot the same show every night in the same place, you need to worry about all the fall-out from the fireworks and if there is a way to make it all cheaper then Disnet will figure out a way. As I understand it, they don't pay very well at all...