Spike ASM drive exceeds Formula 1

Formula 1 racing cars are designed for maximum acceleration. To achieve this, their engine power must be high and their weight low. Their power density also achieves outstanding values of over 1.3 hp per kg of vehicle weight.
With over 1.5 hp/kg, the Spike ASM drive unit is built even more efficiently and is therefore unsurpassed as a track vehicle. An average car weighing 2000 kg would need 3000 hp for the same power density. What does this enormous power mean for roller coaster construction?

Extremely powerful and versatile

With the ASM, for the first time a drive system is available that can accelerate large roller coaster vehicles by more than 1 g along the entire track. Even very large roller coasters with capacities of more than 2000 passengers per hour can be realized without any problems. In contrast to launch coasters, where the energy supply is limited to certain acceleration sections, the ASM drive is always available and can accelerate the roller coaster vehicle further upwards at any time, even in the vertical direction, turning multi-launch coasters into Infini-Launch coasters. Roller coaster layouts and ride figures can thus be designed completely free of energy or gravity restrictions, opening up an infinite variety of completely new roller coaster designs. A coaster designer's dream!

Technological quantum leap

The development of the ASM can therefore be seen as a quantum leap and technical breakthrough. The high drive performance of the ASM could not be achieved by simply scaling up the existing smaller Spike Racing drive, as its maneuverability, which allows minimum horizontal radii of 3 m, had to be maintained. Simple scaling would have resulted in larger racks, which would have limited the minimum radii and twist. It was therefore necessary to apply a significantly higher force for the same tooth size, which was achieved by distributing the force over several teeth simultaneously. The real innovation, however, is the ability to move the individual teeth in relation to each other, which ultimately led to the ASM, the Adaptive Spike Motor. This allows the teeth to adapt to the inaccuracies and manufacturing tolerances that can never be completely avoided and reliably prevent jamming. The tooth engagement optimizes itself.

Fully redundant

In addition, ASM was designed to maximize the potential of a powered coaster. Unlike gravity coasters, Spike coasters are secured by a distance control system that eliminates the need for block zones and brakes. This also avoids the need for evacuation facilities such as walkways and stairs along the track. However, even with Spike coasters, malfunctions can occur that require the ride to be shut down. Usually, the malfunctioning vehicle can be returned to the station, at least at low speeds. However, major malfunctions such as engine damage can never be completely ruled out. To ensure that passengers do not have to be evacuated even in such cases, the ASM drive unit has a fully redundant design. There is a rack on each side of the track into which the two drive wheels of the vehicle engage, which operate completely independently of each other. If a motor on one side fails, the motor on the other side can always take over and continue the ride to the station. The independence and redundancy of the two drive sides includes not only the motors, but also all the components required for the movement, such as inverters and controls, right down to the power supply and the bus bars, which are arranged completely separately for each drive side on both sides of the track. This largely eliminates the need for a special evacuation concept and additional installations on the track or equipment, which greatly simplifies the construction, operation and maintenance of the ride.

Easy to maintain

In general, the design of the ASM is simple. The electric motors are direct drives without a closed gear, which receive their motion commands from the PLC control via an inverter. Compared to the complicated technology of LSM drives, which are wear-free but by no means maintenance-free, the ASM is easy to control and handle. Since there is no other electrical or mechanical equipment in the system, maintenance is limited to the vehicles and avoids external work on brakes and track-integrated drives.

Highest efficiency

The on-board engine makes the ASM track particularly efficient. The electric motors themselves operate at maximum efficiency, and the power is applied directly to the track via a form-fit transmission without slippage. There is no need for auxiliary equipment such as the usual compressors for pneumatically operated brakes, so that the standby energy requirement is also minimal. Most of the energy used during the ride is recovered through regenerative braking. Overall, ASM transforms the roller coaster from an energy-destroying machine into an example of sustainable energy conversion.

The ASM can raise roller coaster technology to a new level in many ways. The big step from the already powerful Spike drive, which was only suitable for two-seater vehicles, to the universally applicable ASM drive now offers the opportunity to use the advantages of the Spike technology for all roller coaster sizes and categories.