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Tower… Wow June 7, 2009

Posted by themeparkengineeringgroup in Tower Design.
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How cool does this look?

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We’re getting there!

Ladies and Gents, We’ve moved into the 22nd Century May 26, 2009

Posted by themeparkengineeringgroup in General Group Stuff.
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Well.. maybe not… but we did get a Twitter account! Not sure how often it will be used but hopefully we can keep people updated with cool stuff… like our trip to Holiday World this weekend!!!

http://twitter.com/T_P_E_G

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All your bases…. May 22, 2009

Posted by themeparkengineeringgroup in Tower Design.
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We finished up our ‘temporary’ base. It actually works very well and we may keep it. Here’s the thing in all its glory!

Brad wants to climb it:

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The pulleys at the top:

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Kelly wanted this picture taken:

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Nice work everyone!

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Lots going on in the next week so keep posted!

Diamondback Super Post! May 4, 2009

Posted by themeparkengineeringgroup in Theme Parks.
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Get ready folks, you’re about to get the most massive blog post ever attemped by the Theme Park Engineering Group.

Last weekend we took a trip to Kings Island for a VERY special opportunity. We were offered a private tour of Diamondback’s most inner workings, as well as a couple VIP rides on this monster! The group from Toledo came down and the Coaster Cats from Cincinnati came up. Pictures were taken. Lots of them. If you’re a coaster or engineering nerd, here is some candy:

Everyone Arriving at the park:

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p4300062 <— The whole group!

Walking back to Diamondback! Excitement builds as the first train is run through the track…

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Now we all pile in. Lucky we could all fit on one train!

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Next, we got to go up into the shed and get a hands-on view of the trains. Notice how the wheel has a ‘Best if used AFTER’ sticker on it. Never seen that before! This stuff is just pure candy for the mechanical engineers.

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A throne:

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Finally, we got to go back into the woods to see the the parts of the ride we couldn’t quite notice going 75mph.

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And this wouldnt be a TPEG blog without a shameless promotion for The Ohio State:

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This was a truly incredible experience for everyone involved. We would like to thank Brian fom Kings Island for allowing us to do this and giving a great tour. The kind of stuff is really what makes TPEG such a unique and exciting group!

Some fun videos for you to watch:

Splashdown (And me making a goofy face).

Diamondback transfering to the shed while Brian explains how it works.

Bill Watkins! April 23, 2009

Posted by themeparkengineeringgroup in General Group Stuff.
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It’s not often you get to meet one of the forefathers of modern roller coasters. Bill Watkins, for those who do not know, designed Space Mountain at Disneyland. He developed many of the methods currently used in coaster design. It was a true privilege to have him come to OSU and give a 4-day lecture on how re designed and built Space Mountain. Here are some great pictures of the event:

Here is bill explaining some basic concepts:

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Roll speeds:

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Good use of the white board.

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Reading through the packet.

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A Space Mountain Chassis layout. Pretty cool stuff. I wonder how many people have ever seen this stuff before!

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Bill Watkins put on a great lecture and I think everyone involved really enjoyed it. Hopefully he’ll be able to make it back sometime. If you’re interested in speaking to the Theme Park Engineering Group, please contact us! We love it when professionals come in and tell is how it really is in the trenches!

50+ Bolts later… April 17, 2009

Posted by themeparkengineeringgroup in Tower Design.
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IT LIVES!

The tower has transformed from a mass of steel hidden under our lab table to this 10ft monster. The thing is straight as an arrow and very rigid. If I had to rate it, I think it would get an 11/10. Yes, it’s that good! A big thanks to all who spent those hours and hours in the machine shop drilling, cutting, cutting, drilling, sanding, drilling, cutting, drilling, drilling, drilling, and so on. Up next is the Launch!

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It’s pictures like this that keep us engineers in the Nerd category!

The Bones! April 9, 2009

Posted by themeparkengineeringgroup in Tower Design.
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Surprise Surprise! I went to check the progress of our beloved tower and it was fully Welded! YES! This is a huge milestone for the project. 10ft of A36 Iron stretches well above our heads. In less than a week we should have it all bolted together! Big things are happening here at Theme Park Engineering so I encourage you all to stayed tuned or if you’re at Ohio State, stop by a meeting and say hello!

 

Here Brad is clearly in awe of the shear height of this monster!

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Heck yeah!

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Stay tuned!

Coaster Dynamix Project Update April 1, 2009

Posted by themeparkengineeringgroup in Coaster Dynamix Project.
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Well,  after 10 weeks the CSE group finished their project on schedule and it turned out great! They me all our goals and exceeded some of them! It was a pleasure working with that department and the group. We will fine-tune the program and begin working on the next generation of Accelerometer. Also.. that course packet…

Here’s  a video of it in action:

MOST OUTSTANDING! March 31, 2009

Posted by themeparkengineeringgroup in General Group Stuff.
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Congratulations everyone!!! The Ohio State Theme Park Engineering Group has been voted THE MOST OUTSTANDING STUDENT ORGANIZATION at Ohio State! This is the HIGHEST award for any student organization on campus! This is truly an honor and I cant help but attribute it to all the hard work our members put in on a daily basis. This group is full to the brim with talented and motivated students with a true passion for the Amusement industry. Again, thanks so much for the hard work and expect big things from the group!

TPEG Retreat 2009 March 9, 2009

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Here are some photos from our FIRST annual Theme Park Engineering Retreat! It really was a great time. I mean, how often do you get to meet the General Manager of Kings Island, and then barrage him with in-depth questions about the industry?

Teamwork!

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There he is, Mr. Greg Scheid!!!! How cool is that?!

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Greg fielding questions

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We have quite the group eh?

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A special thanks to Greg for making the trip to Columbus to spend some time with us. This is the kind of stuff that makes TPEG such a unique group!