- February 19th, 2015, 8:46 am
#70656
I never really thought much about it, but a traditional coaster is really a pretty simple machine. It just doesn't get any simpler than gravity power!
It wouldn't have much processing to do at all. Many of the controls will simply be operated manually (opening and closing the gates, releasing the restraints, releasing the brakes to send it on its way)
In fact, probably the simplest that than they can make the better off it is, with almost no complex processing. Once they get a few tweaks to the brakes (that are triggered by the Hall sensors that determine speed, and location of the trains) it's all really old-school electronics... basically relays. That's pretty cool. Thanks for showing us that Carowinds.
Of course they used enormous processing in the design phase to make it. But probably very little, if any, processing in the actual operation of it, just like coasters that are very very old. And once that laptop gets disconnected after set-up, a person from the 1940's could probably troubleshoot and maintain it. That's pretty neat.
I wonder how much redundancy they have with the hall sensors and relays.
