Someone probably knows this, but on my upcoming trip I’m going to find out. I’m bringing a small acellerometer/logger with me on the next trip mid Sept. It is just me and my DSDS24 (Son with Down’s Syndrome), so it is going to be all about rides. I know Mission Space and Rockin’ Roller Coaster get all the press, but hoping that Test Track banked curves and Expedition Everest get decent showings. I bet even those final bumps raising the boat at the end of Living with the Land will register pretty good too. I know Haunted Mansion is has slightly negative G’s given people losing hats, curious how much below zero it will be.
The device is also a gyrometer, so will also answer the burning question of how fast Mission Space rotates. Not sure how much use the altimeter logging will be though.
I brought one of these loggers with me on a trip a couple years ago, but had a battery connection issue which prevented me from logging more than one ride. This time I have two and will bring a few tools to be able to fix minor issues.
Looking forward to sharing the data. See, a WDW trip can be educational! That’s what I keep telling my DW.
What a fun idea! Knowing the g-force of rides would be great so people can compare rides if they want to try something new but are a little nervous. Or if parents want to get an idea of what their kids might tolerate.
Good reading darkmite2: My intent is pretty similar, attaching the device to me and computing the RMS value of all three axes and then smooth it out a bit. Seeing these folk did the same thing means I’m at least on the right track (OK, bad pun). With any luck, I’ll get pretty similar data.
One additional piece of data I hope to quantify a bit is ride roughness. That is something they try to discuss in the Big Book when comparing coasters. That is hopefully just the RMS of the difference between the raw values and smoothed RMS. That will be practically nothing for Mission Space, but highest probably for something like Space Mountain.
I may try a few other things once I get the data and have a chance to fiddle with it. Something like integrating G’s over time would give an indication of how much the ride drains your head of blood! Cool, now I can add a bit of biology to the educational value!
Naturally, as we all know, you can’t really trust the data until you verify it is repeatable. Guess we’re going to have to loop a few of the more “data intensive” rides to be sure it is indeed repeatable.
Oh, wow! I wish I could go with you two, it would be so much fun.
Do you know if there’s a way to distinguish between jolts and smoother accelerations? It would be interesting because I can do the latter but not the former. Does it plot acceleration over time?
I’ve never been on any rides at Universal, so if there’s a way to objectively find out how rough the rides are, I could go by that instead of my family’s vague descriptions.
Ah, there’s my answer. Eagerly awaiting your results!
These look like very reasonable numbers, and are pretty close to what I would have predicted. As an aerospace physiologist I have spent the last 35 years of my life training USN and USMC pilots in the physiological aspects of flight - including G forces. I have a fair number of hours flying in tactical jets, and have ridden the training centrifuge (including 8 Gs for 15 seconds) several times.
Unless there is some underlying issue, most humans can withstand 3-3.5 Gs for extended amounts of time with few if any symptoms. In this range, virtually no blood “drains out of your head”. There is blood loss to the brain when the +Gz force exceeds the blood pressure to the brain; as I said at the start, this occurs in the 3-3.5 +GZ for the “average” human. Although I’m at least a standard deviation outside the mean, I can handle 5 Gs for at least 45 seconds without having to take proactive countermeasures.
Bswan26: Very cool on actually being an expert on the topic! Yep, clearly Disney isn’t going to get anywhere near levels that are concerning. Also, the ride isn’t really pushing blood “down” from your head, it is more back which is better I assume. I do wish I had gone on the ride before they tamed it down a bit as for weird reasons I do like the sensation. Clearly it isn’t for everyone given there is hardly ever a line. I think my record is looping it 6-ish times in one day.
That’s what I keep telling my DW.
