34 replies to this topic

[Maxlaam]

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

During the testing phase of Looping Star at the expo we found out that the train had way too much speed at the end of the ride. This caused the program to flip out. Besides it didn't really look realistic.

After Looping Star had been fully assembled we decided to make a new type of Brakes that would stop the train in a realistic way. This proved to be a highly reliable friction brake system which was highly adjustable. We could decided if we wanted the train to brake hard or roll to a slow stop. This braking system also allows to have a chain on the brakes to drag the train out of the brakes. Motors powering the chain don't experience a lot of stress from those type of brakes.

Trivia:
Why does a coasters usually hit the brakes hard and not use all the energy till it comes to a gradual stop by itself? This makes the lay-outs much shorter!

Answer:
It's psychological, when you hit the brakes hard and you get thrown forward you get a sense of speed, it gives an extra thrill to the ride.

Pros:
- Highly reliable
- Highly Adjustable
- Very realistic stopping speed
- Great for coasters that use a base

Cons:
- Requires some non-standard SS/RR pieces
- Not easy to make on tube supported coasters, unless you make a base supported by tubes.

Let's build it:

Those are the pieces that make up the brakes:




First we build a small base for the track and brakes to sit on:


Now we put the white rods in the corners of the squares:


Now add this rail on both sides on the white rods:


Add the track in the middle:


Add some tubing on the brake rails:


Remember those spacers?
Put them on the white rods like so:


This causes the brake rails to go up gradually so the train doesn't come to a sudden stop.

Further down the brake run you can vary the amount of spacers on the white rods to control the train stopping. Remember, more spacers is a harder brake.

Here is a picture to show the clearance between the wheels at the start:


Now why is this such a great brake system? Let me explain by using this picture:



As you can see the train has slanted edges on the wheel base, the brake rails only touch these slanted edges, this means that the train stays perfectly centred on the track. Also, because the train doesn't just push in a downward motion but also a sideways motion you get a more gradual stop because the brakes tend to move outward a tiny bit.

I'm looking forward to seeing improvements on this and actually see it in use.

[ForgotToGrowUp]

Nice! Do you mind if I try those out on my coaster?

[Maxlaam]

It's a tutorial, it's here to be used by others, I would love to see it!

[Sniggeh]

^Same! I need some brakes for Krisp!

[maarten12]

The only problem with these brakes is that you can only use them on coasters with a blue rod as a base. It would be nice if you could find a solution in which you can use them on other bases. ^^I have made similar brakes, which I think are a bit sturdier. Maybe I can find some pictures of them.

[Blackkitty]

^Like the ones on Kingda Ka?
Max these brakes are the most realistic yet. I like the better than Steel Force's only because you have found a great way to make the brakes under the track. I'm sure there is a way to have them for yellow and granite bases.

[~stεεlspectrum~]

Using them with tubes or different supports is no problem. Just build this little base to hold them. You could even turn it into a walking-path along the brake run.



Great design, Max!

[Maxlaam]

That would work great, the track and brakes are attached to one another, so it should theoretically work

[Blackkitty]

But is it possible using a granite base rod?

[Maxlaam]

That would be very hard. The brakes need to be properly aligned. However if you build diagonal on a Granite Base you end up getting a Blue Base (if you "split the reds in half".

[LaMbChOpZ]

Oh cool! These's might be the perfect brakes for my newest coaster under construction!!

One question:

I don't currently own any of those orange half connectors, so would I be able to use the other orange track connectors: The single one's instead?
I think it will work, but do you?

[Maxlaam]

I removed all the different braking systems, this is a tutorial so anything not related to this tutorial will be removed.

[LaMbChOpZ]

So Max, would the other connectors work? BTW, I might be trying this out later today, so I'll tell you how it works.

[Jumpge]

Hmmm, these brakes seem pretty interesting and one of the best to be developed yet when I look at these, and I think the concept of them will be able to be modified to work with a suspended/inverted coaster fairly easily. I just wonder how well they will get that braking effect to leave some swingy-ness when the car stops. This would require an immediate stop from these brakes and then a chain to pull them out of the brakes like on ~stεεlspectrum~'s Steel Force.

[scott]

Wow, these are amazing breaks here max!

[TheSUCKCrew]

Yeah they sure look good.
Although I can imagine the chain snapping due the massive friction.

[SuperTKDKid]

Very, Very Nice Max!
I am going to use these in a couple of spots on my flyer. Great Job!

[Maxlaam]

Yeah they sure look good.
Although I can imagine the chain snapping due the massive friction.

This braking system also allows to have a chain on the brakes to drag the train out of the brakes. Motors powering the chain don't experience a lot of stress from those type of brakes.

So no, these brakes work fine with a chain. We used a single un-geared 12V motor and it had no problems with the train. They allow the train to glide over and not come to a sudden stop, hence the "Highly Adjustable" part

[Jogumpie]

Of course you can create problems by installing the these brakes too high (too close to the train). But unless you have no technical insight, you can use this with a chain flawlessly.

[chaindogg33]

Nice brakes! I've tried a few different ones, and most are not that adjustable. The only drawback i see is that the system you show works with a blue-rod squared structure, and i usually use a granite rod layout. I will try to modify for the granite rod base if i can, i think it could be done, hell anything can be done.