Undergraduate Team Project:
Seniors: Alaina Herman, Bryan Rambo, Osuman Gimballa
Juniors: Alison Casson, Hailey O’Mara, Katelyn Churakos
Sophomores: Franklin Merlo, Jacob Row, Jake Glasser, Joshua Schertzer
Freshmen: Mark Pozzuto, Olivia Guerin, Robbie Kipler
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ub-tpec/
Contact: ubtpec@gmail.com
Project Overview
The University at Buffalo Theme Park Engineering Club took part in an engineering competition created by Ride Engineering Competition (REC) and presented by Carowinds in North Carolina. This competition gives students the opportunity to design a portion of a roller coaster that adheres to ASTM-F2291. It focuses on mechanical and control system design as well as rider safety.
Taken from the Ride Engineering Prompt:
“In this year’s challenge, Teams will design, engineer, and manufacture a section of a roller coaster attraction inside a size box. This section constructed by the teams shall be referred to as the “Ride”. The Ride will start and end at provided tracks entering and exiting the size box. Teams will use a ride vehicle chassis designed by the REC and attach rider containment to the chassis. Teams may add additional systems and equipment to the chassis.
At the end of each cycle after exiting the section on the exit track, the ride vehicle will be lifted to the start track, and a new cycle will begin. Each team will run their section for 6 hours.”
Taken from the Ride Engineering Competition Rule Book:
“The Ride Engineering Competition offers students a chance to demonstrate real-world engineering practices within the industry focus of ride engineering and design. Student teams will have 6 months to design, plan, and manufacture an attraction for small candy riders based on a prompt that includes a plot of land and desired rider experience. Teams will receive points for three major deliverables: a Systems Engineering Report that details the engineering decisions and actions throughout the project, a Functional Physical Model of the attraction, and a team score for Final Presentation and Outreach. Teams will also receive point deductions for the relative cost of their ride compared to their competition.
The Competition culminates in an event featuring a 6-hour window in which all Rides must run continuously. During this time Teams will Service their rides whenever needed. Judges will award points based on the implementation of the ride and team’s service preparedness, and teams will present their Ride and Engineering Process.”
Rider Experience
Coaster Poster
Design Process
Conceptual design relied heavily on the design criteria provided by the Ride Engineering Competition guidelines. Planning was dependent on deliverable deadlines and student schedules.
Design Criteria
- Must follow ASTM F24 safety standards.
- Must contain an emergency stop function.
- Must fit within a 750 x 750 x 900 mm box.
- Must accommodate four candy riders.
- Total power must not exceed 15 Amps.
- Must be in operation for 6 hours
Scope of Work
- Gantt chart including activity breakdowns and planned start and finish dates (above)
- Weekly meetings with exceptions during school breaks.
- Team of 15 divided into mechanical design, control design, and documentation sub teams
Decision Matricies
Below shows how we decided on what elements we wanted the coaster to have, both unweighted and weighted.
Key:
1 = Least Difficult
10 = Most Difficult
C = Controls Team
M = Mechanical Team
Ride Concept Designs
Final Design
Engineering Process
Mechanical Systems
The roller coaster track features a custom-designed 3D-printed I-box-inspired track spanning 3,568 mm, integrating innovative elements including two banked turns, a 80 degree drop, an Eddy current braking system and a dual-restraint system to ensure a dynamic and safe ride experience.
Refer to Appendix A, Section 3 for a full breakdown of the Mechanical Systems Design
Control Systems
The control system integrates a control panel and onboard chassis components, using dual processors for reliability, an Arduino Nano equipped with an accelerometer for real time data exchange, and magnetic sensors.
Hardware Design:
- Total power consumption: 31.06 W
- 9V Battery Drain Calculation: 22 hours
- Total consumption per hour: 6.2 mAh
- Operator panel includes keylock switch, LCD screen, RFID reader, and push buttons
Software Design:
- Data from hall effect sensors are sent to Arduino Mega and Nano, where the Nano relays data to the Mega for comparison; any discrepancies trigger errors
Refer to Appendix A, Section 5 for full breakdown of the Control Systems Design
Risk Assessment
- Conducted based on severity and likelihood.
- Excel sheet used to determine risk level and mitigations based on risk matrix
- Risk identification and results included hazard identification, people, use case, location, and mitigations.
RISK CATEGORIES
- Loss of Structural Integrity
- PCU Malfunctions
- Electrical Malfunctions
- Control Panel Malfunction
- Spectator and Operator Injuries
- Excessive Wear or Deterioration
Refer to Appendix A, Section 6 and 7 for full breakdown of the Risk Assessment
Restraint Design
- Class 5 restraints
- Holds 4 riders
Safety
- Hall effect sensors to track chassis position
- Class 5 restraints to account for lateral acceleration forces
- Accelerometer to know if chassis has volleyed
- Refer to Appendix A, Sections 6, 8, and 9 for more safety information
Construction Phase
Materials
- A list of materials was made for the building and theming of the ride
- Refer to Appendix A, Section 10 for the full Bid Proposal
Method of Construction
Material: PLA
Building Method: 3D Printing
The coaster track was designed to be modular, meaning that track pieces could be put together and taken apart without breaking or ruining the track. The image to the right shows a portion of this track modeled in Fusion 360.
Theming and Marketability
Moodboard
Marketability
The current theme is the “Lorenz Attractor.” The shape of the coaster seemed to match the shape of the Lorenz System, a physics concept that deals with chaos theory and the phenomenon known as the Butterfly Effect.
More Potential Themes
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