Floorless Question - CoasterBuzz

Regarding floorless coasters, if a train does not position right and the floor can't come up what happens? Can the pinch wheels re-position it or do the riders get a free ride? This must've happened before.
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The drive motors can go in reverse if needed. However, most of the time the motors will slow down as it approches the stopping point so it won't over-shoot.

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Jes
Webmaster, Jes's Roller Coasters
"Thank You Jeff Putz" "My Fellow Americans, Lets Roll!"

During a tour of Medusa at SFGAdv last year, the tour guide mentioned that the cars overshot the mark a couple of times. They decided to let the train go again instead of reversing the train. The computers usually slow the train down using the optical sensors so that it's pretty close most of the time.

I thought it was interesting that Medusa is programmed to park the trains much slower than Batman and Kraken. Ditto for the movement of the floor, though I suppose that might be mechanical.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com, Sillynonsense.com
"As far as I can tell it doesn't matter who you are. If you can believe, there's something worth fighting for..." - Garbage, "Parade"

Considering as how Medusa was a prototype, I'm not surprised the second and third versions were faster.

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Jes
Webmaster, Jes's Roller Coasters
"Thank You Jeff Putz" "My Fellow Americans, Lets Roll!"

Yeah, Medusa was the worlds first ever floorless oaster. Therefore, the hydraulic floors will obviously move slower than the later ones.
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Bomb Squad Technician

If you see me running, try and keep up!

But why? Because it was first isn't really a reason. I mean, the train is aligned or it's not.

Now if Batman and Kraken were just as good as Medusa... ;)

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com, Sillynonsense.com
"As far as I can tell it doesn't matter who you are. If you can believe, there's something worth fighting for..." - Garbage, "Parade"

B&M may have not perfected the art of combing a train, although I think they just found a way to increase the speed of the whole process, and then used it on the next models. Maybe adding more proxies would mean more accurate train locating.

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Jes
Webmaster, Jes's Roller Coasters
"Thank You Jeff Putz" "My Fellow Americans, Lets Roll!"

Just for the sake of discussion, B:TR at SFGAm is the first invert, yet the floor rises and lowers at the same speed as any other invert.
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SDMF's everywhere, Unite!

Sure, but the floorless models have a much harder job to do than the inverteds.

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Jes
Webmaster, Jes's Roller Coasters
"Thank You Jeff Putz" "My Fellow Americans, Lets Roll!"

Inverted's moving floors are moved by lowerin wheels below it. Florrless floors use a more compliated system using hydraulics out the yin-yang! In Medusa East's first yera of operation, the floor was constantly getting stuck and mechanics were basically sitting in the station waiting for it to break.
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Bomb Squad Technician

If you see me running, try and keep up!

I know that Batman has a neat feature that allows the train to be brought in to the station in the event that it overshoots, or is even stopped on it's way out, although it's not really documented in the ops manual for the ride.

Anyhow, I guess the answer is yes, there is a way to get the ride to reposition should it overshoot the combs.

Oh, and Zero-G, more proxies would be great in theory, but in my experience, the more proxies there are the more things there are to go wrong (although I'm sure you know that)...Why do you think Mr. Hyde's Nasty Fall as SFWoA was broken down so often?

--=digi=--

Sorry, I just didn't think the floorless was such a "revolution" in terms of ride experience. Other than front row, seemed like a modest improvement over standard sit-down trains. The inverted on the other hand, WAS revolutionary in that it was SO different from sit-down or even suspended - and that method of "creating" a floor is just TOO simple, meaning it has less that can go wrong...oh, and Jeff, I WAY prefer BKF's compact layout and high-G turns (but I have a bias against coasters I've ridden alot...other thread...lol).
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PoTP acolyte - remove fear to reply
Son of Drop Zone - PKI CoasterCamp I Champions!!!

Oddly enough this happened to me on Batman Knight Flight. We went part way thru the station and the front end was hanging out the front. The ride ops asked us if we wanted to go again. And we answered yes. There was one little 5 year old kid that didn't want to go so the mechanics came and it took them about 20 minutes to set the wheels in reverse and back us up about 5 feet.

Yes, If I'm not mistaken, there are manual reverse switches on the motors that determine the direction the pinch wheels spin.

Digi69, I had always just thought that the damn cars didn't fit in the track! I mean, the way it stops all the time at the bottom of the drop you'd think it was literally getting stuck!

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Jes
Webmaster, Jes's Roller Coasters
"Thank You Jeff Putz" "My Fellow Americans, Lets Roll!"

Ozzyhead said:
"Just for the sake of discussion, B:TR at SFGAm is the first invert, yet the floor rises and lowers at the same speed as any other invert.

Although this is a good point, there is something else that should be noted. The floor on the earlier inverted models does not raise until the train has been completely parked in the station, whereas on the later models it rises as the train is finishing it's approach. Also worth noting is that on later models the waiting train begins its approach before the departing train has completely cleared the station.

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James Draeger
http://draegs.livejournal.com
"Legend is a wooden Jesus"

Seeing as how Consign AG has their hand in most of the B&M's control systems out there, they'd be the ones to really talk about in this context. They did Medusa West (not east), Batman and Kraken. I doubt that harware on the rides is any different, but Consign just has better programmers. ;)

Regarding more prox switches, take a look at Millennium Force as an example with lots of them. Apparently the series at the end of the brake run measures train speed, while the many switches from there up to the lift sense train positions in little "mini-blocks." The challenge on that ride is that all three trains need to move simultaneously; they can't wait for one train to clear a large station block because the lead train will crest the left (and therefore enter the block that includes the final brakes) before the last train clears it.

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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com, Sillynonsense.com
"As far as I can tell it doesn't matter who you are. If you can believe, there's something worth fighting for..." - Garbage, "Parade"

Ahh, now this is my kind of roller coaster chat! All that technical mechanics stuff... you just got to love it!

James, regarding the Inverted trains advancing before the previous one has left the station, I believe actually the second train can advance only when the first train has left control of the block. What I mean by that is that either gravity takes over and the train cannot be stopped from that point until the next block, or the drive wheels stop short of the section, like when the tires closest to the front of the platform are not actualy at the end of the flat section. There may be an additional foot or two of flat station track after the last motor.

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Jes
Webmaster, Jes's Roller Coasters
"Thank You Jeff Putz" "My Fellow Americans, Lets Roll!"