{"id":39587,"date":"2019-01-21T10:05:46","date_gmt":"2019-01-21T15:05:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/solidworksblog\/?p=39587"},"modified":"2019-01-21T10:05:46","modified_gmt":"2019-01-21T15:05:46","slug":"see-a-functional-3d-printed-roller-coaster-at-solidworks-world-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.solidworks.com\/solidworksblog\/2019\/01\/see-a-functional-3d-printed-roller-coaster-at-solidworks-world-2019.html","title":{"rendered":"See a Functional 3D-Printed Roller Coaster at SOLIDWORKS World 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

Invertigo. Steel Vengeance. Batman. While these may sound like comic book titles at first glance, they are actually the names of popular roller coasters located at amusement parks across the U.S. that have garnered the passion and interest of Matt Schmotzer.<\/p>\n

A systems engineer working on new fuel-metering systems for 2.0L\/2.3L engines at the Ford Motor Company by day, Schmotzer devotes his spare time to a roller coaster replica sideline that combines his zeal for thrill rides with his SOLIDWORKS modeling skills and 3D printing expertise. Invertigo, Schmotzer\u2019s fully functional 1:25 scale replica of the inverted boomerang shuttle roller coaster of the same name at King\u2019s Island near Cincinnati, Ohio, will be on display at the SOLIDWORKS World 2019<\/strong><\/a> February 10-13 in Dallas, Texas.<\/p>\n

The replica roller coaster aficionado\u2019s passion for thrill rides began after he rode the Iron Dragon, a mild suspended rollercoaster at Cedar Point in Sandusky, Ohio, as a very young child. Schmotzer\u2019s family visited Cedar Point, which bills itself as The Roller Coaster Capital of the World with 18 roller coaster rides, every summer, and while those experiences contributed to Schmotzer\u2019s love of roller coasters, he didn\u2019t catch the roller-coaster-replica-making bug until he learned to use SOLIDWORKS design software while completing his senior design project at Purdue University and 3D printing tools during his work at Ford.<\/p>\n

\u201cI majored in Mechanical Engineering and minored in Computer Graphics Technology as an undergraduate at Purdue,\u201d Schmotzer recalls. \u201cWhile I took some courses on CATIA\u00ae 3D design software, and regularly use CATIA in my work at Ford, the School of Mechanical Engineering required that I use SOLIDWORKS\u00ae 3D design software to complete my senior design project. I picked up and learned how to use SOLIDWORKS quite easily because of its intuitive user interface and have continued to use SOLIDWORKS for my roller coaster replica hobby since then.\u201d<\/p>\n

Schmotzer, who now has a seat on the Dassault Syst\u00e8mes SOLIDWORKS 3D by Me Advisory Board, providing input on what hobbyists want to see in a 3D CAD package, began work on the Invertigo replica in early 2017, following several years of using 3D printers in his work at Ford. \u201cI\u2019ve always had a love for roller coasters and a passion for building roller coaster models with the ultimate goal of creating a functional, operating scaled-down version,\u201d Schmotzer explains. \u201cWith SOLIDWORKS software and 3D printing technology, I realized that I have the tools that I need to create functional replicas, modeling the parts in SOLIDWORKS and cost-effectively 3D-printing them, which transformed building a working roller coaster in my garage from a dream into a reality.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Invertigo was Schmotzer\u2019s first roller coaster choice because he wanted to create a replica of a roller coaster that he\u2019d actually ridden and also needed a relatively short layout in order to fit the scaled replica in his garage. Schmotzer took the layout for Invertigo from the NoLimits Coaster Simulator 2 video game and exported the layout\u2019s XYZ coordinate data points of the track spine into a Microsoft\u00ae Excel\u00ae spreadsheet, with which he applied the desired scaling factor before importing the scaled coordinates into SOLIDWORKS. He then used SOLIDWORKS to design the track profile, support structure, trains, mechanisms, and launch station.<\/p>\n

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Although modeling and 3D printing the Invertigo components was fairly straightforward, Schmotzer says that he encountered challenges in getting the cars to run smoothly on the track and complete the coaster circuit. \u201cThe parts were fairly easy to model and scale down, but the physics at work don\u2019t scale well because the friction and force are not propotional,\u201d Schmotzer stresses. \u201cFor example, a roller coaster car weighs 1,000 to 2,000 pounds and the replica car weighs less than 25 pounds. The biggest challenges were reducing friction on the train wheels, getting the lift hills to work correctly on a gravity-driven ride, and minimizing rail vibration to ensure that the train completes the entire ride circuit without coming off the track.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Schmotzer solved the friction problem by using special ceramic bearings, replaced the chain-driven lift mechanism with a magnet-based system, and replaced the 3D-printed rails with plastic tubing that he glued to the 3D-printed track, sections of which are bolted together with M2 fasteners. The Invertigo replica comprises 33 separate sections of track and sits on a 4×8-foot table. The functional roller coaster replica will be running and on display at SOLIDWORKS World 2019 in Dallas.<\/p>\n

Watch the video below to hear Matt describe what inspired him to start creating rollercoaster replicas.<\/p>\n

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