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Future tech in parks or on coasters

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spacebum

Roller Poster
One of the things that I was thinking of was how would some of the ideas like. Mag-Lev or something close to the KERS/ERS in F1 would work if aplyed to coasters or park rides.

Yes I know that Mag-Lev would most likely be used for monorails. And yes I know that LIM/LSM are basicly part of the Mag-Lev system. I am not so sure on if the Mag-Lev idea would just turn into a new version of the powerd mine trains.

The KERS/ERS idea is kind of hard to think of. But maybe have the system on the breaks. Or a dynamo that runs off the lift hill charging a bank of batterys to power lights or something.

Can anyone come up with ideas or maybe build on these.
 
Re: Future tech in parks or on costers

spacebum said:
The KERS/ERS idea is kind of hard to think of. But maybe have the system on the breaks. Or a dynamo that runs off the lift hill charging a bank of batterys to power lights or something.
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I might be making this up, but I'm sure I've heard somewhere that some coasters are already using the magnetic braking systems to charge capacitors that are then used for other systems on the ride. I really can't remember for the life of me which coaster(s) it is though, does anyone else remember? Or am I going mad?
 
Re: Future tech in parks or on costers

^No, I could've sworn I heard the same thing somewhere. I just can't remember where...

I have had a few ideas involving amusement parks and Superconductors.
 
Re: Future tech in parks or on costers

Doesn't Thunderbird use this for its launch?
 
Doesnt Freischütz in Bayern Park utilize it?

Edit: Holy hell was I off. I was remembering the ride name, not the park lol.
 
I think they're all LSMs. I don't think a single ride has utilized superconductors yet. Remember, it takes a crap load of power to cool them.

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GuyWithAStick said:
I think they're all LSMs. I don't think a single ride has utilized superconductors yet. Remember, it takes a crap load of power to cool them.

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I think we're all talking about regenerative brakes (or something similar), not superconducting launches. There definitely (definitely) aren't any operating coasters with superconducting launches.

As you rightly point out, it's incredibly energy intensive, at the moment.
 
^Oh, sorry for the misunderstanding. But yeah, Thunderbird definitely does, not sure about the other one though. That looked like LSMs working in reverse.

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Intricks said:
Doesnt Freischütz in Bayern Park utilize it?

Edit: Holy hell was I off. I was remembering the ride name, not the park lol.
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Yes, Maurer Söhne utilizes this technology :)

Since most coasters have plenty of energy left while hitting the brakes, I'm not quite sure why it isn't industry standard? It's both good PR for the park as it's environmental friendly technology, plus I assume the investments will pay of in the long run since launching a train isn't free of charge...
 
^ Component costs. I would venture a healthy guess that cheap electricity outweighs the electricity captured through regenerative braking - majority of large American amusement parks for example operate on power-purchase agreements that allows them to see very favorable rates, as they are large electricity consumers. Some parks even own their own electricity generation.

I'd further venture that parks would see a greater return for their dollar by simply investing in on-site solar projects. This would be a project that generates electricity throughout the year, rather than relying on the operation of a roller coaster.
 
Hyde said:
^ Component costs.
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Hmm, ok. Do you have an idea what such a system would cost? I guess cheap electricity in America would outweight the investment, but I'm not so sure that's the case in Europe.
 
How much of an added hassle is it to design some form of energy capture system for what I assume is, by now, a fairly standardised part of a coaster? I mean, a brake section is pretty much the same on most rides, is it worth redesigning it?
 
andrus said:
Hyde said:
^ Component costs.
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Hmm, ok. Do you have an idea what such a system would cost? I guess cheap electricity in America would outweight the investment, but I'm not so sure that's the case in Europe.
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On costs? No - I'm not aware of anyone who is able to provide current component costs of roller coasters, let alone what added component costs would be that would allow for regenerative braking.

To components involved, and please someone else chime in with greater knowledge, you would need:
- magnetic brake fins on the train (metal ones would not be able to generate a magnetic force that can be captured by the brakes)
- magnetic brakes on the rails
- magnetic-to-energy converter (alternatively, you could theoretically employ a dynamic brake setup, that would convert heat generated from braking to electricity, however the efficiency of this type of setup would be much lower as heat can be difficult to capture as usable energy)
- wiring to plug back into the electricity grid, or on-site storage if electricity is to be used off-grid for the given roller coaster.
- For on-site storage, supercapacitors or batteries.

Costs will vary on size and complexity of the system. But given that these types of regenerative braking systems are feasible, and being employed across other modes of transportation, there could be a reason why it hasn't hit roller coasters - to which I speculate cost as being the greatest barrier. Magnetic launches after all were introduced to roller coasters 20 years ago with Flight of Fear, so this is not a foreign subject per say for the industry.
 
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