Designing a Roller Coaster

Research of Darla Weiss

This research involves creating a software program that will allow a user to easily design roller coaster tracks consisting of many standard elements. These include:

Straight Sections
Curved Sections
Clothoid Loops
Corkscrews

Users will be able to specify the length, height, radius, banking, and other parameters of the sections they specify, thus making it possible to create a wide variety of elements.Various combinations of these four track elements make up the entirety of many of the currently operating roller coasters.

Once the user has specified the desired track layout, the program will calculate the dynamics, and display graphs of the forces that a rider would experience. It will also simulate a ride on the coaster, giving the designer a chance to experience a little piece of what the rider will eventually experience.

Modified 1/25/98 by Darla Weiss