By: Isabel, Nia, Alisha, Rachel and Charlotte
Task Information Thorpe Park are hoping to redevelop part of the park and are looking for engineers to help them to come up with a new star attraction! Therefore you will need to design a ride or experience that is as thrilling as it is entertaining, but that also works! We want to see originality but most of all we want you to utilise your engineering knowledge and show us your rationale behind their designs for a chance of winning a prize. To enter: You will need to send a PDF of your ride design and a short video or document outlining your rationale to EngFest@theiet.org by Friday, 15th of March 2019 The prize: a group trip to Thorpe Park for up to 30 students, who will also each receive a one shot fast track to selected ride as well as a STEM workshop from the award winning ‘Thrills programme’!
Our Idea To develop our idea we conducted a survey amongst our peers at school alongside family and friends outside of school. We did this because we aim to target our ride at children our age and to adults. We needed to discover their opinions on amusement park rides and cater to their requests and make sure the ride is as enjoyable as possible. In order to create unique and innovative design for the ride, we sourced images and researched some of the participants favorite rides already built at Thorpe Park. We wanted to create something new and entertaining but that appealed to our target audience. We then evaluated some of the interesting qualities that people enjoy about each ride and rides in general to base our design on.
Here are our results from the survey... We asked our participants how long they would prefer the ride to be. After research we discovered that the average roller coaster ride time was 3 minutes and 25 seconds. We included this information in our question. 66.7% of people said that they believed that the ride should be roughly 3 minutes. Therefore our ride will be roughly 3 minutes long.
We asked our participants whether they had been to Thorpe Park and also what their favorite ride was there. This would give us an idea on what type of ride we should createwhether it would be a roller coaster or not. It also gave us an insight into the qualities of a ride that people may enjoy more. For example, a fast pace or loops etc. We also used this information to make sure that out ride would be unique to any ride already at Thorpe Park making it more appealing
Here are some of the existing rides that participants said and we looked at..
Vortex
Stealth
Rush
The Swarm
This allowed us to both get some inspiration and create a innovative and unique ride!
Flying Fish
The question, ‘Do you like roller coasters’ was key, as it helped us finalise what type of ride we would create. We decided to create a roller coaster as 75% of participants said ‘yes’, they do like roller coasters. This meant that our ride would appeal to the majority of people.
From these responses we understood how participants would like to feel during and after the ride. For example, a thrill, adrenaline rush, surprise, anticipation and excitement. We could then make sure our ride had the components to make our participants feel this way, which would make them enjoy the ride more and increase the appeal of the ride.
This question was very important as it allowed us to plan how fast our ride should and will be. 83.3% of people said that they enjoy a fast-paced ride. Therefore by having a fast ride we would appeal to the majority of our target audience
After seeing answers to this question, it meant that we had a definitive idea of the components that we should include in our roller coaster. For example, a fast pace, tight turns, inversions and drops from high peaks
earth)?
We then thought of a possible theme for our ride, which was The Elements. The elements are: Earth, Wind, Fire and Water. To test our possible theme we asked the question, ‘Do you like the idea of a ride incorporating the four elements?’. 100% of participants answered yes and therefore we could assume that our ride would appeal and entertain the majority of people.
From the results of the survey, it meant that we could create our final design for our ride
Our ride is called....
The Name‌ The name we gave to our ride is Phoenix. We chose this name because it incorporated the idea of all of the elements. The phoenix is a Greek and Egyptian mythological creature that cyclically regenerates and is reborn. It also conjures imagery of the element of fire. Due to it being the shape of a bird and its air-born nature it allows us to envisage the idea of both wind and air. During the cyclical lifetime of the Phoenix, it turns to ash, only to be reborn again. This rebirth symbolises nature and therefore Earth. The idea of water, the final element, is essential to all living creatures. Water symbolises, birth, fertility and refreshment. Therefore, water ties in with the imagery of what a Phoenix represents.
Our Roller Coaster What is the name of the ride? Phoenix Who is the ride aimed for? This ride will predominantly be aimed towards children of the age of 12 and above. How do you want for people to feel? Thrilled, excited and exhilarated What is the theme? The theme of the ride are the four elements- Fire, Water, Wind and Earth encompassed in the imagery of a Phoenix. This ride will take people through an adventure of each individual element, resulting in an thrilling experience through the journey of nature.
Earth
There is a flat track, meaning the velocity and amount of kinetic energy stays as constant as possible as it is not being converted to gravitational potential energy however, some energy is lost due to friction
Features: Windy track that zooms through nature trees or Forests Creates a scene of earth as one of the four elements Other:
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The sharp turns will create thrills and an illusion of colliding with the static objects. When there is a turn on the ride, the track will be at a small incline and inverse to facilitate this and ensure safety, as the cart will then not fall off of the track due to the increased momentum from the previous drop This will be the first stage of all the elements of our roller coaster As this stage is after a big hill, the roller coaster will have great kinetic energy, meaning that it will have an increase in velocity, continuing the momentum
(image of what it looks like)
Sharp turns
Trees, nature or things that resemble the element earth
Fire Features: short burst of flame before coaster approaches to ensure safety or life like projection of flames to present the element fire This will be the second part of the ride
Projected holographic flames to resemble the element fire (image of what it looks like)
Other:
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it will be held up by cylindrical metal poles which allows the coaster to flow easily and reach a faster speed creating a smoother course and more excitement There will be a drop to allow the coaster to gain speed as it moves on through the course
Drop
One of the few loops
Wind Features: ● This part of the ride will consist of a variety of loops, to provide a ‘wind’ like feel to the riders ● This is the third stage of our ride Other: ●
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The track will be held up by cylindrical metal poles which will allow the carriage to flow easily and reach a faster speed The loops will be completely safe, as at the top of the loop, when you are completely upside down, gravity is pulling you out of your seat, toward the ground, but the stronger acceleration force is pushing you into your seat, toward the sky
Metal poles
Water
The Tunnel Encasing The Track
The Track
This will be the last stage of our ride. Features: ●
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At the beginning of this stage, the carriage is going to go through a dark tunnel with blue lights, to give the people the sensation of being underwater. After they exit the tunnel, they will go down the final hill, where jets will splash them with water After they reach the bottom of the hill, they will go onto the water
Other: ● ●
The tunnel will be held up by metal polls, this will ensure that it will securely stay up. There is going to be a hill to make sure that there is enough kinetic energy so that there is a big splash of water
Water Jets
The Carriage
Our Roller Coaster Design This is the first hill that the roller coaster goes up to. The roller coaster will then gain potential energy that will convert into kinetic energy, hence, will propel it through the remaining journey
The roller-coaster passes through earth first. It is a flat, fast journey through incredible views of nature
This is the last stage of the ride. The roller coaster is brought up to a Tunnel. Afterwards, they go down a hill, where they are splashed with water.
This is a rough outline of what our rollercoaster would look like
Next, the riders will experience fire. There will be a drop to allow the roller coaster to gain speed as it moves on through the course. They will also experience short burst of flame before roller coaster approaches
This is the wind section which consists of a variety of loops. This lets the riders experience rush and speed, just like the wind
The Physics and Engineering Of Our Ride How will we keep the roller coaster going from start to finish/ What will power the ride: The ride is not powered by a motor apart from when it is pulled up to the top of the first hill – which is the highest point of the entire ride. The rest of its trip relies on the potential energy it has gained by its position at the top of this hill. All that stored potential energy changes to kinetic energy. As the roller coaster falls, it accelerates and builds up enough kinetic energy to propel it through the remainder of the ride. No engine is required because of the inertia. However, some energy is always lost due to friction, this means that whenever there is a loop, there needs to be a higher drop earlier, otherwise the loop will not completed and the ride will stop. What is the and minimum and maximum weight/ number of people: Number of people per carriage: 12 Minimum Weight: 600kg Maximum Weight: 1200kg Height Restriction: 1.4m and above
The Physics and Engineering of our Ride How will the people not fall off? There will be two ways to ensure that people will not fall off. The first one is inertia. This means when they are in a upside-down loop, although gravity is pulling them downwards, the force of acceleration due to the motion of the roller coaster is much more stronger than the force of gravity. Secondly, people will be strapped down by safety harnesses, this will ensure that they will be strapped in safely, which will avoid any injuries. How is the Roller Coaster going to be safe? Some members of staff will be in control of a safety panel which will allow the ride to stop at any point, the safety panel will be mechanically attached to the brakes of the carriage. We will use fin brakes, in which a series of clamps are positioned at the end of the track and a few other breaking points. Our safety panel will close these clamps when the carriages need to stop. The clamps close in on the vertical metal fins running under the carriages, and the friction gradually slows the train down.
The Physics and Engineering of our Ride What speed will it be going at? On average it will be going at 100mph How long is the ride going to be? Our ride will be roughly 3 minutes long What will allow our rollercoaster to go fast? Wind resistance or the wheels along the track are forces that work to slow down the rollercoaster. So toward the end of the ride, the hills tend to be lower because the coaster has less energy to get up them. Our speed relies on the potential energy it has gained by its position at the top of this hill. All that stored potential energy changes to kinetic energy. As the roller coaster falls, it accelerates and builds up enough kinetic energy to propel it through the remainder of the ride.
What effect does the force and speed have on the people? When a coaster car is speeding up, the actual force acting on the riders is the seat pushing their body forward. But, because of your body's inertia, you feel a force in front of you, pushing you into the seat. We did not make the roller coaster ride too long or too fast to allow people to enjoy a fast ride, whilst not feeling uncomfortable
The Components Of Our Ride Chain Lift: The way our roller coaster will go up to the top of the first hill is with a chain lift. The chain lift will increase the potential energy. The chain is fastened in a loop that is wound around a gear at the top of the hill and another gear at the bottom of the hill. The gear at the bottom of the hill is turned on by a simple motor The Brakes: Our ride will include various spots along the track where the train is slowed or stopped deliberately by the brakes. This is for safety reasons, such as where the carriage approaches the unloading zone at the end of the ride to prevent it from colliding with another carriage that has not yet departed. We will use fin brakes, in which a series of clamps are positioned at the end of the track and a few other breaking points. We will have a safety panel that will close these clamps when the roller coaster needs to stop. The clamps close in on the vertical metal fins running under the carriages, and the friction gradually slows the train down. The track: Our roller coaster will have wheels on the sides and underneath the track, these wheels lock the carriages onto the tracks, and prevent them from jumping the track.
Thank you!