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  kgwagner (profile), May 6th, 2011 @ 5:42am

  
  

  Gimme a break!

  This is just yet another stab at perpetual motion. Unfortunately, there's no such thing as a free lunch. You can bet they'll patent the snot out of it, though, as many have in the past.

   

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  Pitabred (profile), May 6th, 2011 @ 7:34am

  
  

  Re: Gimme a break!

  No, there's no such thing as perpetual motion. But this could significantly cut the energy bills of an amusement park. Something doesn't have to be perfect to make it better than what exists.

   

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  CDWatters (profile), May 6th, 2011 @ 8:33am

  
  

  Re: Re: Gimme a break!

  Most coasters, especially multitrain types, have brakes available throughout the route. Sometimes these are to make sure the train is not exceeding safe limits for the track ahead. Energy returns on those systems are probably pretty low.
  
  Some of the older coasters have multiple circles of track around the ride with bumps and dips to use up the energy before entering the station, but a lot of the newer coasters, taller and faster, wedged into tight footprints (Top Thrill at Cedar Point comes to mind) definitely could recycle some of the braking energy to reduce the load needed to hit 120mph in 4 seconds. The braking at the end is pretty severe.

   

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  Mr. Oizo, May 6th, 2011 @ 7:52am

  
  

  Re: Gimme a break!

  True, but less wasted energy is also valuable. Even though it might never be that perpetual mobile you still seem to long for.

   

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  Anonymous Coward, May 6th, 2011 @ 6:03am

  
  

  I can't see the vids, Do they the returns are greater than the investment plus maintenance, because that's why I find it iffy. Adding downtime and repair costs usually outweigh trivial returns.

   

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  Matt (profile), May 6th, 2011 @ 6:25am

  
  

  It seems to me that a roller coaster wouldn't be braking that often, really only once at the very end so the question becomes whats the cost to benefit ratio of it?
  
  Additionally it's my understanding that this technology has been available in freight locomotives for a while now so it seems a bit more marketing than substance.

   

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  Ven, May 6th, 2011 @ 7:57am

  
  

  Re:

  Roller coasters don't apply power often either. A typical roller coaster will only be powered up the first and tallest hill. It will then only use it's momentum until it breaks at the end of it's run.

   

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  Anonymous Coward, May 6th, 2011 @ 6:56am

  
  

  It isn't a good idea anyway...

  The idea was pretty stupid to begin with. The brakes on a roller coaster do not engage until absolutely necessary. The general design is such that once it's moving they only use the brakes to stop to let people on/off, the rest of the time they generally use air resistance/gravity to kill momentum as needed through out the trip. Harnessing the tiny amount of energy these devices can capture, on such small amounts of use, is more or less a waste of money.
  
  You would be much better using vibration energy capturing instead.

   

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  Sean T Henry (profile), May 6th, 2011 @ 7:14am

  
  

  They needed engineers to place a drive shaft with a clutch that connects to a generator with enough resistance at the speeds it will be stopping from. They could have asked any of the DIY electric car communities to do it.

   

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  Overcast (profile), May 6th, 2011 @ 7:44am

  
  

  Thing is, using this concept on a rollercoaster, would seem to take all the needed energy from the coaster..
  
  Maybe that final moment of braking might realize a small return, however.
  
  Of course, this would require more equipment on the coaster, which means more energy will be required to get it up the initial hill.
  
  Yes, energy isn't free, but getting people thinking and innovating is free. Too bad patent trolls keep many from even bothering to mention their ideas.
  
  I've had a few good ideas, maybe patentable, but the cost of getting a patent + potential legal issues just would mean a bunch of hassle for nothing.

   

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  CDWatters (profile), May 6th, 2011 @ 8:43am

  
  

  Re:

  The design in the video isn't practical, just a proof of concept.
  
  Coasters don't have brakes on the cars for the most part, the brakes are really on the track. One common design is a metal fin sticking down, and the brakes grab the fins as the train passes.
  
  If the fins were magnetic, and the "brakes" wire loops, then regenerative braking would work without having to completely change the coaster design.

   

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  New Mexico Mark, May 6th, 2011 @ 7:48am

  
  

  New entry for the book of bad ideas

  Good idea... something that slows the "coaster" while going downhill. Is someone missing the point here?
  
  If the regenerative braking was designed to capture nearly 100 percent of the kinetic energy, the ride could go downhill almost as slowly as it climbed the next one using the regenerated energy. In fact, if we got rid of those pesky hills, we could just impart the minimum energy right in the beginning for the ride to gradually coast to a stop back at the beginning.
  
  "Fun", safe, and green, all at the same time! Maybe this is why environmentalists are not normally called upon to design amusement parks. :)

   

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  Mr. Oizo, May 6th, 2011 @ 7:57am

  
  

  Magnetic Brakes ?

  Now that I think of it. Are most rollercoasters also not magnetically braked ? How faster they go, the more energy they produce to brake themselves.
  
  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brake_run#Magnetic_brakes

   

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  Matt (profile), May 6th, 2011 @ 9:28am

  
  

  Re: Magnetic Brakes ?

  That is an intesting point, why would a ride operator want to downgrade the brakes to a mechanical system with more potential points of failure.

   

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  TechDan (profile), May 6th, 2011 @ 9:58am

  
  

  Re: Re: Magnetic Brakes ?

  Mechanical brakes are designed such that any failure in the system causes them to catch the cars and stop them. A failure in a magnetic system would not be able to do that.

   

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  Max, May 6th, 2011 @ 2:06pm

  
  

  Re: Magnetic Brakes ?

  When I first saw this commercial I thought it was a sad grab at a technology that's been in use for decades. Now I believe that the ad agency didn't realize that the magnetic breaking used in roller coasters was the inspiration for regenerative breaking.

   

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  the-outrage!!!, May 6th, 2011 @ 8:46am

  
  

  Stupid comments

  Judging by these comments, not a single one of you owns a hybrid or understands the technology... very disappointed. I'll go back to reddit where GOOD comments are upvoted to the top, and stupid whining is downvoted into oblivion.

   

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  magecat (profile), May 6th, 2011 @ 10:09am

  
  

  Re: Stupid comments

  That may be true; the workings of hybrid technology aren't really common knowledge. Would you care to enlighten the discussion rather than insulting it?

   

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  Me, May 6th, 2011 @ 12:13pm

  
  

  It would be better

  Would it not be better to have the roller coaster cars have generators to generate electricity as it is coasting around the track? The only time the coaster needs to brake is at the end unless they extend that by many feet to get the most out of the braking.

   

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