Amusement parks and their rides, merchandise and brands are a huge business globally. From the designing phase through to the execution of the rides, the whole process requires an enormous amount of abstract thinking and vision. The structural challenges that exist in the amusement park world don’t exist in your typical structural design, with the added element of the highest form of safety regulations mixed with the user experience in audio, visual, sensory elements.
Here at Prime Engineering, we’re passionate about mechanical engineering and are excited by the innovative projects that occur in the industry and that bring so much joy to the community. In this article we explain a few of the subtasks that require different disciplines of engineering to accomplish a highly functional and creative amusement park:
General Maintenance Engineers:
This is the team that generally oversees the entirety of the project from start to finish as well as the ongoing work after. They have a high level of understanding of the technical goals of the rest of the engineering teams and work to keep everyone accountable and ensure everyone has their needs met.
Mechanical Engineers:
For all of the moving parts (hint: there are thousands and thousands of parts), they will be designed and installed by the mechanical engineering team. This is a vital part of the project and precision machining capabilities require a high level of skill and training, so it takes a really talented team to execute projects like amusement parks! The design phase will generally be in planning for months before anything can progress to the build which ensures that everything is designed to a high level of technicality and safety. Amusement parks are usually grand in size, offering a variety of themes/worlds inside of the one park and so the buildings, shows and rides will be of all shapes, contorts and sizes. The mechanical engineers work closely with the park architects and visual designers to bring these ideas to life.
Lighting Engineers:
If the park is based on particular movies/animation, the lighting will need to match in order to maintain consistency. A lot goes into creating the right atmosphere at an amusement park, there will typically be different themes around the park, all of which need lighting to create the right effect. The lighting engineers are the ones who perfect the lamps, lighting fixtures, colour filters and play around with the timing of the lights to match the ride and audio sensory.
Audio/Video Engineers:
Working heavily alongside the lighting engineers and theme designers, the audio and video engineers bring the amusement park to life. They design the systems that are used to play, amplify and distribute the audio and visual effects. Most of the time, the audio will be fixed inside the seat of the ride or in a speaker very close by; this requires a very particular type of synchronisation between the lighting and video and most likely won’t be done through Wi-Fi as it wouldn’t link up in time. After all, amusement parks are a place of magic and wonder so the engineering teams work meticulously to ensure that the atmosphere is protected.
Other forms of engineering and designers needed during the project both before and ongoing include:
- Ride control engineers
- Show control engineers
- Software engineers
- Electrical engineers
- Interior designers
- Customer experience specialists
It takes a village to perfect a project as significant and colossal as an amusement park. The communication that is required between all teams is what effectively gets buildings like these standing, so the next time you’re visiting a park have a look to see all of the engineering and design features you can find, like the speakers or where the lights are positioned! Nothing will be placed without a purpose.
If you have any machinery projects you would like to speak to a team of engineering experts about, Prime Engineering is ready! We have over 30 years of collective experience in designing and manufacturing high-quality products that solve the greatest of challenges. Contact us today to find out more.
