Having now had enough time to complete our rides, we thought you might like to see 3 of the finished, working models.
Each ride includes a video, so they make take a few minutes to upload to your computer, please be patient!
Dragonator is based on a Ferris Wheel.
Special features include:
- spacers to ensure the carriages rotate freely
- dragonboat carriages
- Chinese-style dragon heads decorating the sides
- switches to start and stop the motors
Problems solved include:
- we tried having the motor and cells inside the wheel but it made it too heavy to turn, so we redesigned it to work differently
- our A-Frame needed strengthening
- our carriages didn’t always turn, so we added spacers
Click here to see the ride in action!
Star Wars is a carousel.
Special features include:
- carriages based on Star Wars fliers
- proper carousel top
Problem solved include:
- adding and extra wheel in the base to straighten the centre axle
- counter-balancing the base
- adding a second motor to give extra power
- building special housing for the cells and motors
Click here to see the ride in action!
Whirlpool is a carousel.
Special features include:
- hand-made pirate ships – both floor and ceiling mounted
- Pirate themed decorations
- built-in motor housing – adding stability and strength to the base
Problems solved include:
- straightening the centre axle and stopping it wobbling by adding a second wheel.
- stabilising the base to make the ride turn
- adding extra cells and motor to make the ride turn
- switches to turn the motors on and off (or speed up and slow down)
- reducing friction to make the ride turn