3 replies to this topic

[DDRman732865]

Alright, I figured I might as well make a thread on this coaster, seeing as I will hit a lot of roadblocks. Anyway, I have the basic mechanic of the transfer track done. It lines up on top:



On bottom:



And here is the unique part. I have a heavily weighted ball acting as a moving counterweight, seen here:





Up:



Down:



The only problem I have is reseting the transfer track. It seems simple, just move the ball back. The problem is the ball is so heavy that it is difficult to move the whole track, or even the ball itself. The obvious answer was to have a motor triggered by the transfer track falling turn a rod which pushes the ball back in place. This would work except for 2 things:
1. The motor was too weak to push it back, even downgraded a red/blue gear.
2. Once the transfer track reset, the ball was in the way of the rod, which caused strain and snapping pieces on the motor mechanism.

As you can see here:


The transfer track works fine. Any suggestions on how to make the mechanism reset are greatly appreciated.

[pkiknex25]

Honestly, this is can be done perfectly with a simple weight balance. Don't go too complex with the moving counterweight. Some more high tech things, such as Round About's ferris lift or automatic shuttle lifts require more high tech mechanisms, but this doesn't need it. Honestly, go with something as simple as Troglodyte. Nice, simple weight balance. Obviously, you don't have to exactly copy it, but something similar.

If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

[~stεεlspectrum~]

Actually, it seems like that moving weight could work. All you need to do is stop the ball from rolling down so far; just far enough so that it will stay down until the train exits, but come up and roll back after it leaves.

[RightWayTrey]

The ball is a good idea, because it eliminates the problem of the track lifting back up before the train gets all the way off. However, it may introduce more problems than it fixes. So if you can figure out a simple way to reset it, I would keep it. If not though, I would just stick with a simple weight balance like PKI said.

About resetting the switch track with the ball, it may be easier on the motor if you have it push the track back up, which would cause the ball to roll back, rather than have the motor push the ball itself.

Here's a picture of Chaos's switch track if it helps: http://www.sscoaster...te-dscf0121.jpg

Good luck on this. If you have further trouble I'd be glad to give some more ideas.