Q: What will the future of roller coasters be like?

A:
The future is looking bright for roller coasters. Inventions and experiences once only seen in movies, in one's imagination, and kept inaccessible by the general public, is becoming reality. The evolution of the roller coaster has been profound from its earliest form of riding down a snow covered hill on a sled, to today's sanity testing giants, much has changed. As Tom Harris, author of How Roller Coasters Work said, Whatever the future of roller coasters will be, the only limit will be the tolerance of the human body and the laws of physics. The three top changes that occurred making the rides what they are today are the use of steel, incorporation of electricity, and a developed need for speed. The steel chain has avoided the need for pushing and pulling the cars to get the ride started and the public from walking up ramps to get inside of the carsi. Steel tubes being used in the support structures and along the track have broadened the physical capabilities allowing for less height restrictions and special features like inversions, for example loops. On earlier models of wooden coasters and more recent models loops have been attempted, but ultimately either the ride closed for safety concerns or was modified thusly removing the loop. Repeatedly it has been proven that loops are a feature made possible by the incorporation of steel tubes, and are a challenge for wooden coasters. Electricity enabled more safety features to be used, like for starting and stopping the ride when wanted and detecting certain environmental features. A need for speed is what pushes the competition for the fastest roller coaster. From a gentle 12 mph from the first coaster to use an oval track to the record 149.1 mph the Formula Rossa holds this need for speed will push roller coasters even fasterii. Innovative Thinking Companies compete against each other with innovation. In order to keep the public interested in their brand of products, improvement is essential. With cell phone companies new features and designs are constantly coming out as the companies update their past products to make them better. This same concept is applied to roller coasters. Design companies in an effort to keep the public interested in their rides make improvements and incorporate new features and designs. From this innovation occurs. A/B)As innovations are progressing in safety, expectations of what each ride should have or be able to handle, will be higher. The company Roller Coaster Construction Services has developed steel that has a reduced tolerance of only .2mms compared to the normal 1-2cmiii. This translates into having a more rigid track which means a safer ride. Advancements like this will eventually be used in multiple construction companys designs creating a new standard of tolerance. New safety laws will then be put in place for new rides being built. Everything we touch is becoming increasingly faster, stronger, and technical. The rides we experience now and will in the near future will as well. This improvement will continue and not only make rides safer, but more expensive to build. Features like detecting the wind speed are costly, but allow workers to know if it is too windy for operation or if certain adjustments of the ride need to be made. When it comes to safety every second and every millimeter counts. c)The process of preparing the site will not become much easier in the future. These required steps do involve modern technology , but these steps are also very detailed. The steps involved have a large

impact on the design and building process of the ride and need to be done properly step by step to avoid mistakes. f)Increasingly over the years CAD, or Computer-Aided Design, has been used in the designing of roller coasters. As the capabilities for the software increases the designing process of the rides becomes easier. Changes in the software have it possible for the drawings to be more accessible among multiple people, allowing faster feedback, editing, and sharing all due to the mobile app. These changes have also allowed better visualizing of the ride and composing parts. With custom shapes being allowed the drawings can now be more detailed. I)Innovative ideas like the winged design have allowed riders to truly experience the motion of the ride and the surrounding scenery rather than the track laid out before them. The catapult-launch is a new way for riders to start a ride. Instead of the usual being lifted up a ramp by a chain, the car can now go in any direction and angle the designers choose at the beginning of the ride. Is it Science Fiction, or a Prediction of the Future? The future will consist of record breaking and one-of-a-kind ideas. Rides will be taller, longer, faster, and more precise. They will be more realistic and interactive shown by new innovations like the winged design and suspended coasters. The winged design places the riders on the side of the track rather than on top of it so to allow for the riders to experience the motion of the ride as well as the surrounding rather than the track. Suspended rides do this too, but instead of sitting on the side of the track, riders are underneath it and are grouped together. Having less restraints is a trend that will continue. Right now floorless, inverted, and flying coasters all take away the physical elements of the ride one generally experiences and focuses on the emotional thrill. With using these types of rides tricks can be played on the riders, like almost diving into water. These rides make every turn a surprise for the track is not clearly laid out in front of you. The ride titled Vomit Comet is expected to range in cost from 40-60 million dollars due to precision of rideiv. This precision will allow riders to feel weightless and twice as heavy each ride. Weight is going to vary from ride to ride , so to ensure a proper experience each time certain adjustments need to be made. The future will consist of more multi launching rides where the car is propelled at other points of the track other than traditionally just at the beginning and end. The SW7 at Alton Towers in England, UK launches the car three times during the ride. As of today there are only seven fourth dimension roller coasters in existence[i]. This will change in the coming years as more companies will develop rides that use this "fourth dimension." Certain ideas will be discontinued like the pipeline, side friction, steeple chase, and suspended. Friction roller coasters are quite inefficient considering the energy spent to operate ride. Pipelines are inefficient to some degree as well and the overall number of these types of rides worldwide is not very high. New pipeline rides also have not been built in recent years in countries outside of Japan and Kuwaitv. e)The number of wooden roller coasters is increasingly being outnumbered by steel. Wooden coasters may have that distinctive charm and feel, but so much more is possible from steel- one thing being loops. Wooden rides may become obsolete or possibly rare. As of April 22, 2013 according to rcdb.com the ratio of steel roller coasters to wooden ones is 3,003/172. Three dimensional printing is a current reality and objects like snowboardsvi and organs like hearts have been developed using this technique. It is only a matter time before three dimensional printing is

integrated into the manufacturing process of rides. Instead of building the parts in a warehouse or on site, entire sections could be printed out thusly shortening construction time. There is some talk about having the public being able to design their own ride. Using the programmed robotic arm that is used in more complex motions, like in building vehicles, be the roller coaster and eliminating all tracks and other distractions. Microsoft recently received a patent of an invention of theirs. The patent appears to be for a gaming projection system where the screen is projected 360 around the enclosed room. The projection even has the capabilities to bend around objects, completely surrounding the player. Having this in combination with the idea of designing one's own ride leads to a very realistic, personal, and innovative ride. Making the rides more eco-friendly could include reducing friction or using the friction created to power other aspects of the ride.
i

How roller coaster is made - material, history, used, parts, components, structure, product, History, Raw Materials, Design, The Manufacturing Process of roller coaster, Quality Control ii Record Holders iii Rollercoaster Construction Services iv Vomit Comet v Pipeline vi snowboard