How safety PLC controllers keep rollercoasters and amusement rides safe

[@Dm0stFin3sT]

Man this channel scratched an itch I always had. I work in industrial engineering and always wanted to know how ride controls work

[@ryantheridemechanic]

@@Dm0stFin3sT great!

[@DougYeager-i8b]

I ordered one of your Tees “Please remain seated “. I used to work Disney Attractions. 1. When people ask me for the meaning I can tell them my experiences. 2. The tee will advertise your channel. 3. Your share of profits from the sale will go to your local Toys for Tots. Win Win for everyone

[@ryantheridemechanic]

@@DougYeager-i8b awesome!

[@Deurklink]

I program PLCs for a living, so this video immediately peeked my interest! There's a lot of differences between brands, and this technology just keeps evolving every year, but I think you did a nice job explaining it to people who don't know what a PLC is 😀

[@ryantheridemechanic]

@@Deurklink thank you! that’s the hard part, I’ve seen lots of people go 100% technical and it doesn’t work. So because of my viewer base, already more technical than most, I try to stay around the 40% level because I confuse myself at the 70% level haha!!!

[@neilbrown3359]

What exactly evolves in plc technology?

[@Deurklink]

@@neilbrown3359 The PLCs just keep getting faster, smaller, and the amount of different networks and types of inputs or outputs you can connect to them keep increasing. Touch panels used to always be bulky but they start to look more and more like tablets. Drives to control motors also get more and more capabilities. Some manufacturers are currently trying to integrate AI into their programming environments. There's new stuff every year.

[@neilbrown3359]

@@Deurklink I'm not trying to sound like an a-hole but that all sounds like a nightmare !! I'm used to old closed loop cnc systems from the early 90's. They were fairly simple and they had disk drives with the software on them to run everything so you could make several copies of the operating software as a backup. The drives , i/o cards , and any other electronics just looked better built than this new throw away stuff. The shop I work at retrofitted a new controller and drives and plc to run a fancy new plasma cutter on an old machine. I thought it was a bad idea since the 23 year old controls were still working great ( and could still get support on ). But they went ahead with the $60,000 retrofit and about a year after the job was done we were alerted by the installer that if our windows software or hard drive ever took a crap that we would have to basically do another retrofit because the new version of windows would not be compatible with the drive system we had. We couldn't believe it !! The owner had buyers remorse after hearing that!! I believe these systems have gotten to complicated and too expensive to be worth the money. And like you said, the technology is always changing. So stuff goes obsolete pretty fast I would assume. I'm sure software conflicts would happen with newer components?

[@sewardpyrotechnics9426]

Thank you for doing what your doing, Ryan. I appreciate you and all that youve taught me. Keep up the amazing work

[@ryantheridemechanic]

@@sewardpyrotechnics9426 awesome! Thanks for the donation toward toys for tots!

[@Jenlovescoasters]

I like how the "control cabinet" on the old woodie I work on, is smaller than our zamperla jump around cabinet😂

[@ryantheridemechanic]

@@Jenlovescoasters the SLC I worked on was also relay logic. It has a retrofit to add fault diagnostics that used a PLC to watch the relays.

[@alexphillips4325]

@@ryantheridemechanic I work an old relay logic Arrow coaster that does the same thing (with the added benefit of also using the PLC to split our trim brakes into two sets, one still manually changed in pressure by control operators, and the other one automatic based on actual train speed rather than time.) I'm surprised that a coaster as new as an SLC was built as relay logic. Even a company as stubborn as Arrow was using Westinghouse PLCs in the mid 80s, which our arrow suspended still has.

[@macsignals]

​@@alexphillips4325the Boomerang where I work was converted to a new Allen Bradley PLC a few years ago, older guys describe it as being mostly relay logic with a PLC for fault monitoring. The late 90s Vekoma Roller Skater I worked on was the same way, right as I was leaving that ride was getting converted to a new PLC.

[@ShaunPuzon]

Thanks for what you do, Ryan. I've been a longtime subscriber, and I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. Your content is incredible, and I thank you for your entertaining and fascinating videos!

[@ryantheridemechanic]

@@ShaunPuzon wow thank you so much!! $50 to the bottom line of toys for tots! Your amazing!

[@Jenlovescoasters]

@@ryantheridemechanic oh!!! We can donate?

[@haunter_1845]

The output card light bulb example made me giggle. Incandescent indicators used to wear out output contacts really fast especially if they were programed to blink. The economical solution (on machinery, not rides) was to reassign the indicator to the next unused output and repeat until the card had no good outputs left 😂.

[@ryantheridemechanic]

@@haunter_1845 sounds frustrating

[@eDoc2020]

Or they can put a resistor across the contacts to keep the filament warm when not in use. It reduces surge current which improves both contact and lamp life, and the resulting dim glow can be used to verify that the lamp is not burnt out.

[@crooked-halo]

"Programmable Logic Controller" in case anyone is wanting to know. I wish I could share the photo I took in 1982 of the PLC instructions on The Comet at Lincoln Park. It was about 5 feet long, made of wood & hung from the station's ceiling, saying; "NO. 1 BRAKE, PULL DOWN TO SLOW CARS. NO. 2 BRAKE, PULL DOWN TO STOP CARS. NO. 3 BRAKE, PULL DOWN TO HOLD CARS ON PLATFORM. EMERGENCY BUTTON TO STOP RIDE - LEFT ON POST." These were directions for the PLC that's between the operator's ears!

[@ryantheridemechanic]

@@crooked-halo interesting

[@JayLopiccolo]

One important reminder for people critical of ride safety, particularly the media. People getting stuck on a ride on a lift hill or brake/block zone is not a safety event. Yes, it stinks to have to spend an hour stuck on a rollercoaster train only to then have to unload, travel down some stairs, and walk out of the ride infield, but the ride did not introduce a safety concern when it stopped; it prevented a safety concern from becoming a safety event by safely stopping the ride and preventing injury to people or damage to the ride. Even a rollercoaster valleying is not a safety event assuming no other trains/cars travel into that block zone. A safety event is when injury or damage occurs. And one comment regarding SIL ratings - SIL ratings are calculated on an individual safety loop (sensing device, logic solver, output device). A SIL2 or SIL3 rated PLC means that the processor is capable of solving every control loop to a minimum SIL rating simultaneously. Thus the huge cost involved in getting to a SIL3 or SIL4 safety system with thousands of inputs and outputs.

[@ryantheridemechanic]

@@JayLopiccolo well said!

[@FOHGeek]

Yeah. What might be considered as so-called "accidents" by general public are actually protective actions preventing real bloody accidents from happening.

[@LTCoasters]

I was told that Iron Dragon still works on the old relay logic. Maintenance walked up one day with the ride's binder and a few other binders. I felt so bad for him, that had to have sucked.

[@ryantheridemechanic]

@@LTCoasters a lot of rides still work off relay logic. It’s cheap to build.

[@kylea9022]

Great video once again, i work in one of Europe's largest water treatment works and we work on PLC's all the time... the more crucial ones that control the amount of chemicals to put into the water use duel redundant system where you have two PLC chassis exactly the same and they sync together so when one fails it will automatically switch over and continue running where the failed one left off . Very fun to work on 🙂

[@ryantheridemechanic]

@@kylea9022 quite necessary for public health though. That’s interesting a while back up system. I like redundancy for things.

[@RollercoasterOperator]

This topic is simpler than social situations.

[@RF-sq1lw]

Great explanation - I am a ride controls engineer and enjoyed listening!

[@ryantheridemechanic]

@@RF-sq1lw awesome!

[@noobcraft6225]

Wow! If you don’t mind me asking, how do you get into the industry? (Internships, education, etc). I’m super interested in become exactly what you are.

[@ryantheridemechanic]

@@noobcraft6225 next weeks video. Stay tuned.

[@RF-sq1lw]

@@noobcraft6225 getting a degree in EE or CE as well as external projects is what it is all about! Many clubs at school such as Themed Entertainment Associations, Theme Park Engineering Clubs, etc.. I actually was a technician at my local theme park as I studied engineering to help me understand more systems before getting my full time role. I was foryunate to do an internship and then get signed on full time after graduating

[@RF-sq1lw]

@@noobcraft6225 first of all a degree in EE or CompE is preferred! Once you’re studying making sure to do projects and even relevant jobs like ride operations is helpful! Lots of clubs exist today for themed entertainment so join them or make one at your school. There are even competitions out there between schools for rollercoaster design.

[@mjojo1000]

This is an awesome video technology has grown now every ride is controlled via computer programable logic controllers

[@Hasse-swe]

Thanks for another good video. And its amazing to see that you are sending money to charity.

[@ryantheridemechanic]

@@Hasse-swe I try! Thanks for your support.

[@RocknRollerCoasterGirl]

Thanks!

[@ryantheridemechanic]

@@RocknRollerCoasterGirl look at you! Thank you so much! $9.99 to the toys for tots drive!

[@brianlydy310]

Good for you Ryan.

[@Cyrusisgreat]

Love all the content you do Ryan! Keep up the great work! Also, great thing your doing for charity! your a great man

[@ryantheridemechanic]

@@Cyrusisgreat thank you!

[@Cyrusisgreat]

​@ryantheridemechanic no problem 😁

[@Jenlovescoasters]

Technically, our Gold rusher coaster at Magic Mtn didn't have a PLC it was all relays

[@litz13]

So two very real world analogues of these controllers : Pinball Machines and Elevators In both cases, older controllers were relay logic, replaced with solid state. The games, more just a direct IO model, the elevators a more 1-for-1 replacement, as those have multiple safety circuits, etc, that more approximate what a ride would have. In the world of the games, all the way up to the mid-2000s, games were still being made that ran on 6809 8-bit CPUs.

[@ryantheridemechanic]

@@litz13 looked at building a pinball deck, man those are more complicated than a rollercoaster!

[@cartoonkeeper]

​@@ryantheridemechanic yeah especially when you account for multiplayer I believe technology connections has a video series on that

[@litz13]

@@ryantheridemechanic I literally got my first job in IT by showing the interviewer a picture of the underside of a pinball playfield, with all the wires going everywhere. "You fix THAT? When can you start?"

[@ryantheridemechanic]

@@litz13 ha! Cool

[@litz13]

@@ryantheridemechanic they're not as hard as you think though - the game CPU is its PLC. It has a matrix of 64 switch inputs, and a matrix of 64 outputs for lamps. Coils, flashlamps (12v bulbs pulsed briefly at 20v) and other mechanical devices are driven by banks of 8 transister drivers. Everything is grouped by wire color; for instance greens and whites are switches, yellows and reds are lamps, and purples are drivers.

[@Helawutz]

Rule 1: Thumbs up Rule 2: Watch video Rule 3: Comment Rule 4: Stay off the Air gates

[@ryantheridemechanic]

@@Helawutz good logic!

[@dindog22]

Thanks! use this for the toy drive please

[@ryantheridemechanic]

@@dindog22 thanks so much! $15 for toys for tots! You’re awesome!

[@dindog22]

@@ryantheridemechanic you are my third favorite KZbin channel. First is Gone to the Snow Dogs because they have cute huskies. Second is Coaster College because his voice is so relaxing.

[@davidhardman3353]

Hi Ryan, could you do a video about how ride maintenance would work when opening up a brand new park like Epic Universe? I was wondering how it would differ as some rides are ready to open before others. Obviously once the rides are ready to open they won't be having anybody on them till the park opens next year. Would they just cycle the rides every few days just to keep them moving and up to date with grease etc.

[@smart_cloud]

Lake Compounce mentioned!!!

[@MrClutch440T4]

Ryan, I believe you got one thing wrong, the IC chips run on smoke, when the smoke releases from the chip it doesn't work anymore😂😂😂😅

[@ryantheridemechanic]

@@MrClutch440T4 factory smoke is hard to keep in stuff! Haha!

[@detroitjc]

I wrote logic for plc 20' through plc 80's and the slc 500"s for ab panelviw screens. By slc i dont mean vekoma

[@ryantheridemechanic]

@@detroitjc I figured you were reff slick 500

[@detroitjc]

Digital zeros and ones

[@KingdakaProd]

Could you make a video explaining how LSM launches work it’s crazy seeing a little white piece launching trains super fast.

[@ryantheridemechanic]

@@KingdakaProd kzbin.info/www/bejne/nX6zdGeohax1h9Usi=S7t7Ic89i5mRnaoC

[@KingdakaProd]

@@ryantheridemechanic oh thanks!

[@bassjasinski]

Great video and my question is when will the PLC get generative AI 😂

[@FOHGeek]

Never. PLCs are designed for finishing simple and repetitive tasks millions of times without messing everything up, not for accomplishing creative jobs. However PLC engineers might be able to design programs with certain extent of AI assistance in near future.

[@paw1dawg]

What was the firsr coaster to use plc and what year

[@ryantheridemechanic]

@@paw1dawg not sure on that one. I’m sure someone here knows. I have a lot of history buffs that follow.

[@pdrg]

How do the safety double PLC's sync clock?

[@ryantheridemechanic]

@@pdrg not sure on the best way to do that I know you can pass the time if needed. But I believe the older ones I worked with basically passed the card image then check if they matched. Not sure not the programming end

[@ClebyHerris]

Can you tell b&m photo eyes to stop giving my ride ghost trains at night

[@ryantheridemechanic]

@@ClebyHerris if it’s at night then you probably got some critters nested there crawling over the eyes. My guess.

[@mjojo1000]

That’s a possibility or moisture settling on the sensors causing a ghost train

[@ryantheridemechanic]

@@mjojo1000 I would have said moisture in the AM. But could be either way

[@ClebyHerris]

@@ryantheridemechanic it could’ve easily have been literally anything really. My idea was a bird. But I could see moisture. It hasn’t done it lately just the sun being a laser