Forward, backward and in circles: igus provides fun on roller coasters

Made-up cable crawler system from igus makes water attraction boats fast! Sunshine, adrenaline, fun in the attraction: more and more families are attracted to popular amusement parks, especially in the summer months. Water rides are in high demand, especially when the temperatures rise, and that includes the "Power Splash" by Mack Rides from Waldkirch. To ensure that passengers can get in and out safely, the developers of the water attraction built a swing gate, which placed special demands on the power supply. igus provided the right solution with a rotating module.

Backwards up and forwards down: that's what it feels like on Mack Rides' Power Splash water attraction. Under the name "Pulsar," the first model of the 2,000-hp water attraction can be found at the Walibi amusement park in Belgium. With a speed of 100 km/h and a drop of 45 meters, visitors race into the cool liquid, refreshment included. To ensure that passengers can get in and out safely, the developers of the water attraction built a swing gate, which had special requirements for the energy supply, as it had to be able to move the cables +/- 180 degrees. The design engineers contacted the engineering team at igus, who developed a modular rotating energy supply with a side-mounted cable caterpillar. This could easily and reliably guide cables into the required rotation.

Cable crawlers get the hang of it

The swing gate is used as a station element between the station building and the roller coaster area during regular operation. This allows visitors to comfortably enter and exit the ride, while on the other side the next boat starts the ride. The station provides greater throughput and visitors can enjoy the attraction faster. The rotating platform has a diameter of 12.4 meters and a total height of nearly 5 meters. The weight, which rests on the swing gate with the two boats is 59 tons. A heavy load for the cables and hoses. To safely guide a range of load cables, signal cables and pneumatic hoses, igus engineers rely on a double standing cable caterpillar in a guide device. This ensures that the slewing motion as well as the movements of the disc are implemented and the cables are safely guided without damage. To save time, money and effort, Power Splash engineers chose a ready-to-use cable caterpillar system that the igus engineering team mounted directly under the rotating disk. Connection-ready cable caterpillar systems like the rotating module are designed, fabricated, assembled and tested - so the customer receives a system from a single source with a system warranty.