Kyle Simmons

Imagine a 3-story Halloween Horror Nights attraction themed both inside and out to look and feel like a US Navy destroyer under attack. Add 17 escape rooms complete with real fire fighting, real flooding compartments, smoke & scent machines, sound effects, and even floor shakers. This 12-hour capstone training event is Battle Stations 21, the final exam for all Navy recruits to graduate from bootcamp. It is visceral as hell! My role is to supervise the design, installation, and programming of… Show more

Imagine a 3-story Halloween Horror Nights attraction themed both inside and out to look and feel like a US Navy destroyer under attack. Add 17 escape rooms complete with real fire fighting, real flooding compartments, smoke & scent machines, sound effects, and even floor shakers. This 12-hour capstone training event is Battle Stations 21, the final exam for all Navy recruits to graduate from bootcamp. It is visceral as hell! My role is to supervise the design, installation, and programming of multiple system upgrades, including automation controls, special effects, media, lighting, and interactive displays. Show less

Motion Base Simulator Ride
Show programming for 4-DOF simulator-style dark ride. The new installation required early animatics, line-of-site studies, and ride performance analysis.

As manager of the show programming team, I supervised show programming resources for all new attractions going into Universal Orlando Resort's fourth gate. This included ride vehicle programming for dark rides, as well as show action equipment, special effects timing, and show sequencing for dark rides and coasters.

KUKA Robot Dark Ride
Show programming of all KUKA robots for this heavily themed dark ride attraction. I was the original programmer from project launch, but due to the pandemic I was not able to install the system myself. However, I was able to complete the show profiles and assign installation to one of the talented members of my team.

KUKA Robot Dark Ride
I had the honor of reprogramming this world famous attraction. The new KR700 robots required updated motion profiles due to the altered geometry of the robot arms. The update gave us the opportunity to introduce show performance "trick moves" that had been developed for other installations, which improved thrill factor. I also introduced lessons learned from my experience with training simulators to reduce simulation sickness, and use MATLAB to improve profile analysis.

Dark Ride with Motion Base
Show programmed the motion platform that lifted the 18-ton ride vehicle (72 passenger bus) effectively making it a motion base simulator. The biggest challenge was overcoming the inherent oscillation caused by rapid changes in acceleration (ie "jerk"). This massive autonomously guided vehicle bounced, rocked, and shimmied with every move. Ironically, the same problem robbed me of any vibrations I added for texture. After multiple iterations, I finally got a good… Show more

Dark Ride with Motion Base
Show programmed the motion platform that lifted the 18-ton ride vehicle (72 passenger bus) effectively making it a motion base simulator. The biggest challenge was overcoming the inherent oscillation caused by rapid changes in acceleration (ie "jerk"). This massive autonomously guided vehicle bounced, rocked, and shimmied with every move. Ironically, the same problem robbed me of any vibrations I added for texture. After multiple iterations, I finally got a good feel for the vehicle, and managed to make a dynamic show. Show less

Motion Base Simulator Ride
Show programming for 4-DOF motion base simulator. This installation replaced the "Back to The Future" attraction at USJ, using the original BTTF motion base. The main challenge was mapping the original performance from the Orlando installation to this older and more powerful ride system. I also had an opportunity to introduce improved vibration control using Python and MaxScript.

Theater Show with Motion Base
Don't let the "simple chair" look of the D-Box seat fool you. Programming the motion base was A LOT of fun. It is one cool piece of tech that uses audio clips as a motion profile. So editing the seat uses Pro-Tools instead of animation. This gives it two seriously cool strengths. First you can rapidly prototype the entire show with a library of clips to flesh out the timing and intensity in near real-time. Second, it gives complete control over vibration… Show more

Theater Show with Motion Base
Don't let the "simple chair" look of the D-Box seat fool you. Programming the motion base was A LOT of fun. It is one cool piece of tech that uses audio clips as a motion profile. So editing the seat uses Pro-Tools instead of animation. This gives it two seriously cool strengths. First you can rapidly prototype the entire show with a library of clips to flesh out the timing and intensity in near real-time. Second, it gives complete control over vibration frequencies and allows you to layer motion textures together and blend them seamlessly. Two drawbacks: short motion range (about 1.5 inches, with a 3 inch option) and no native way to animate precise movement to match visual queues on-screen. So I programmed a tool to extract an animated motion profile as an audio file that could then be loaded into ProTools (as a D-Box clip). Show less

Dark Ride with Motion Base
Early contributions to scene designs and effects concepts for the "speed tunnel". Also early concepts for vehicle animation and timing animatics.

Dark Ride with Motion Base
Show programming for special effects timing and intensity, including wind, water spritz, water lob, and two scent cannons. For this show, the entire theater is the motion base. Supported principle show programmer with file management and documentation.

Dark Ride with Motion Base
Supported principle show programmer with documentation and file management. Worked with engineers two years later to identify solutions to structural fatigue issues in the AGV frame. Provided motion profile updates for analysis and special effects for show quality sustainment.

Training Simulator with Motion Base
At Raydon, we created "serious" games that immersed Army drivers in the landscape of any real-world location necessary to prepare soldiers for field deployment. In my role as Environment Designer, I ensured that the motion base responded correctly to match the shape of the terrain on-screen. As a team leader, I also supervised the quality of on-screen animation for characters and vehicles.

Training Simulator with Motion Base
I created and maintained a library of massive environment models, each representing a real-world location. In addition, I worked with a talented team of game artists to model and rig characters, vehicles, and landmarks to populate the scenes for these immersive "serious" game systems. The movement of the motion base was controlled through pre-programmed animation and interactive code.

Rocket Launch Tower Engineering & Animation
I was part of the engineering team that designed the retractable arms and cryogenic fuel delivery system on the Ares-I launch tower, which was later refitted to support the Artemis moon rocket, which launched on August 29, 2022. In addition to mechanical design and modeling, I supported the animation team by converting our CAD models for animation in Maya, as well as rigging and animation.

Training Simulator with Special Effects
In addition to character and vehicle model creation, rigging, and animation, I also supervised all aspect of art direction, including motion capture and look development. Additional practical and virtual effects were achieved through show controls and custom C++ game engine.