Dan: Mr. Ondrey, thank you for granting Coaster Force the opportunity to educate enthusiasts about the work of Consign.  Can you please give us all a short introduction about yourself, what it is you do at Consign, and what the company does in general?

Brian: Consign AG provides safety control systems for roller coasters and other amusement rides. More specifically, we are given a mechanical design which working with the manufacturer, we produce drawings of all of the necessary electrical wiring for the ride, control cabinets containing electrical components designed for operating motors and solenoids, operator panels, and lastly the program that controls all of the equipment. As for myself, I am the senior electrical engineer at Consign AG. I’ve been with them for 5 years now and although we are all trained to do every job necessary to complete a project from start to finish, my specialty is ladder logic programming. I have always been a big fan of amusement parks and roller coasters specifically, but after working at Kennywood when I was younger, I knew I wanted to work in the amusement industry. By some luck, the guys at Great Coasters passed my resume onto Consign at a time they were hiring, and everything took off from there.

Dan: The majority of your systems have been designed for Bolliger & Mabillard, one of the world's most popular roller coaster manufacturers. How did Consign first get acquainted with B&M?

Brian: The acquaintance began with our boss, Werner Surber. Just like Walter Bolliger and Claude Mabillard, Werner was originally an Intamin employee. Shortly before Walter and Claude decided to leave Intamin, Werner had also gone off on his own after relocating to the United States and formed Consign AG. When Walter and Claude left and formed B&M, they contacted Werner about doing control systems for their new rides and the relationship has continued through today.

Dan: The majority of roller coaster enthusiasts probably are not fully aware of how a roller coaster control system works. Can you describe briefly from a technical viewpoint what each system must contain in its specification?

Brian: Ok, let me start with a few basic definitions. The brain of the ride system is the PLC or Programmable Logic Controller. It’s not like the computers you are using right now, but is designed for long life in industrial applications (and no, it doesn’t run Windows). To be on the safe side, we always use 2 processors in our systems. Each one checks the other to verify everything is working correctly. In addition, they both are needed to agree to control any device in the ride. If you do see a typical PC at a ride, most of the time its only job there is to act like a window into the PLC. Usually rides are not run from the PC itself. Attached to the processors in a rack are various Input and Output cards. The Input cards read signals in from devices in the field such as proximity switches, and the Output cards send signals out to control devices such as brakes. Through these the processors can see everything going on and also control everything. The ride itself has roughly 3 types of systems to it, block logic, brake control, and motor control. Block logic is detecting the location of all trains in the ride. Using metal sensing proximity switches and photo-eyes that shoot a beam of light across an area does this. The ride is separated into areas called blocks and the rules we follow are that two trains can never be in the same block. A block can be any size…the only rule to it is there must be a way to fully stop a train in it. For a typical 2 train operation with no midcourse brake, the blocks are: Station exit to the Lift exit, Lift exit to the exit of the first set of brakes (Service brakes), the second set of brakes (Safety brakes), the Waiting/Transfer area before the Station, and the Station itself. Brake control is done using air. The ride has a main compressor that feeds air to all of the brakes. To allow air to get to and operate a brake, we use a device called a solenoid that works as a valve. We use pressure switches to monitor air pressure and proximity switches to check the brake position (open/closed). Motors have several devices needed to run. Besides having a disconnect switch to shut off power out at when the motor is located, our cabinets also have a circuit breaker to kill power to each motor group (transfer, transfer table, station, etc). After that switch is are what we call contactors. These are devices that only require a small power signal to close, but when closed, allow a much larger amount of power to pass through. We have one set of contactors for forward and reverse direction, and then a second set for high or low speed. Even if motors are only meant for one direction or one speed, we still use two contactors for safety. Lastly, each motor has a protector (similar to a circuit breaker) that will trip if the motor shorts out. All of these devices also give a feedback signal to our processor so we know how each one is behaving. About two thirds of the control cabinets are motor controls. For very large motors such as the lift motor, we use something called a Drive, which has its own built in computer. A drive allows us to dynamically change speeds and gives us many features for dealing with the large amount of power needed to run the lift motor. So much for brief, huh?

Dan: How much co-operation is there with manufacturers such as B&M and GCI when designing control systems for their coasters?

Brian: A good amount. We need to know of any new hardware that is added to the system. Just about anything run by either electricity or air is part of our controls. In addition, the designers need to know where we need ride sensors mounted. There’s also a lot of discussion from both sides on how the designers want everything to work. In the installation phase we work closely too. Both the designers and us have various tests that need performed when we begin cycling the trains. Once I even created a “Claude” subroutine in the code just to collect data for him so I could work on my side of the testing.

Dan: Do the control systems have to vary from ride to ride, or can a standard model be used for each coaster type? For example, how different is the control system on ‘Batman: The Ride’ to the control system on ‘Scream’?

Brian: For us, every ride exists only from the beginning of the brake run to the top of the lift, with the occasional exception of trim brakes (all we ever see of a new ride design is the top down overview and really that often isn’t necessary for doing our job). So when designing the controls for a new ride, we take the closest existing design to the new design and just make the modifications for it. In your example, the differences would only be the number of brakes, the number of motors, and the different floor systems. There are a few more minor changes between a floorless and inverted. To be honest, the best idea is to change as little as possible because the system we have has been tested and proven many times over.

Dan: B&M have a wide range of ride types - which one was the most challenging to design a control system for?

Brian: That would have to be the Laydown coaster. Not only does that design involve several new mechanical elements such as the chassis lowering system, but the trains themselves have a large network built into them. Every train seat has 6 proximity switches, 2 solenoids, 1 motor, and a safety circuit built into it. Every row also has 8 proxs, 1 motor, and a safety circuit for it. Put all of that together, make it fully mobile and not able to have any cables directly attached to it, be able to provide it with enough power to run everything, make sure nothing will be affected by vibrations, and fit it into as small of a space as possible. Oh, and it has to be ready for opening day. That was a fun challenge.

Dan: At what stage of construction are the control systems installed and how long does installation take?

Brian: We’re generally last. The structure comes first and as that is being finished, the electricians come in and wire everything according to our specifications. As they are finishing, we arrive. Generally it can take anywhere from two to six weeks to go from arriving on site to a fully tested and running ride. We start be testing all of the wiring, then start testing and cycling the ride, and lastly training park personnel to run and maintain the ride.

Dan: What sort of testing is done after the system has been installed?

Brian: We start by testing all of the wiring and hardware. Once that is done and we can cycle a train around the track, then its time to start testing all of the code written for the ride. Each of the proximity switches and photo-eyes that sense the train is failed off and the train is cycled. They are then individually failed on, again cycling the train each time. This is to test the block logic and verify the both the train stops in the right place and also that the correct error appears. We also check brake speeds and make adjustments for a smooth deceleration. Brakes are failed off to verify again we get the correct error and also that our over-speed check catches it. There are several other minor tests we do, but in general we have to test every system for the ride. The truth is most people see the ride go around the track for the first time and think everything is almost done….at that point our job on site is really just beginning and a lot more needs to be done before its ready for the public.

Dan: How many site visits are normally involved during the installation of a control system? What jobs need to be performed by the Consign team that visit the site?

Brian: Often just one visit. We might return on a weekend or two after the ride has opened to the park to “baby-sit” the ride and verify everything is working as we expect it to. But for the most part we try to do everything in one single visit. As for the jobs performed, mostly what I listed above: check the wiring, get the ride running, test the code, train operations and maintenance, and make sure everyone is happy.

Dan: What are the most common problems with newly designed control systems for prototype rides?

Brian: The most common is the one thing you don’t think will cause you problems. The second most common is the one thing you don’t think is possible.

Dan: How did Consign deal with the minor problems that Air experienced after opening, and what exactly does the process of troubleshooting involve?

Brian: Well the one main one we had dealt with was originally we had photo-eyes in the armrests of each seat. This was fully tested out in Switzerland outside for long periods of time in all weather conditions and worked perfectly. So of course it was the perfect one thing we didn’t think would cause us any problems. Troubleshooting this problem is like troubleshooting any problem. The first step is determining why is your current solution not working? The second step is to ask, are there modifications that could be made to make your current solution work? We tried several different types of photo-eyes, we tried making filters, realignments, etc. And unfortunately every time you made a change you had to test it out. What many people don’t know is there were many nights of being on site until 2-3am and then returning so you are there before an 8 am opening. Eventually however if you cannot find a feasible way to make your solution work, you start looking into alternates. We ended up going with a proximity switch in each armrest and that solution worked out nicely. Some asked why we didn’t use this solution from the start, but the truth is every test done using photo-eyes prior to having people on the train worked out perfectly. The key to troubleshooting is just to be ready for anything. We have had some very basic installations become nightmarish over something that would normally never cause a problem. On the other hand, some of what should have been our harder installations went very smoothly.

Dan: One of the most popular aspects of Consign's control systems is the visual basic error display. For a ride operator, is it always easy to deal with reported errors and get the ride operational again quickly?

Brian: When the error display system was created, getting the ride back to running as quickly as possible was the goal. We have now added a graphical display system to our operator panels with the same goal in mind. Safety is always the number 1 priority, but I would say reliability and easy to use come very close behind that. I leave it to the park personnel to answer if our rides are easy to deal with, but we’re always looking to improve.

Dan: Consign AG has a perfect safety record, how would a typical control system cope with a mechanical failure?

Brian: Well there are really two types…industrial systems such as factory production lines never want to shut down if a single sensor fails. So they tend to have multiple systems that continue running the line if a failure occurs to keep everything running. Safety systems that involve human life tend to be the opposite. What we have are multiple ways to shut down a piece of equipment or the entire ride if need be. It is our belief that if any sensor malfunctions or tells us that a motor or brake is malfunctioning, the best approach is to stop everything and fix it. If the PLCs sense something is wrong, they will cut off power to motors and brakes either in that area or the entire ride if it is what we consider a critical error.

Dan: Sadly, the safest control systems cannot prevent ride operators from suffering injuries in rare situations. Can you tell us more about the Operator Safety System - which aims to prevent tragic accidents involving people stepping into restricted areas when the ride is in motion?

Brian: The idea behind the OSS is that although through using queue gates and checking all of the restraints, the operators can verify there are no guests in the ride area, on busy days it might be possible to lose track of an operator when dispatching. Our solution to that is to have a way the control system itself counts all of the ride attendants working in the station. We have various ways of detecting the presence of a person so the OSS is made up of various stations around the platform that are designated as safe points. Once the control system detect that the total number of operators working on the floor are in safe points, the system will only then allow movement in the station.

Dan: What is the lifespan of a typical Consign control system? Kumba at Busch Gardens and Vortex at Paramount's Carowinds received upgrades to their control systems in 1999 and 2000 respectively, why was this done?

Brian: Right now, the typical lifespan of a control system can be anywhere from 10-20 years. There are various reasons to upgrade a ride. Sometimes replacement parts are just no longer manufactured for the current ride equipment. The newer equipment is often more efficient or may also match other rides in the park. Other times its done to add new features to a ride. For Kumba and Vortex, it was a matter of replacing an old communication system between our two PLCs that replacement parts no longer existed. In addition to doing that, the processors added were much faster and could calculate train speeds more accurately. In truth, it’s a lot of the same reasons that you may upgrade an old computer or TV.

Dan: Are there any B&M coasters that Consign did not design control systems for?

Brian: Yes, occasionally B&M has done controls in house. Examples of this are their two diving machines, Oblivion and G5. They have a control systems engineer on their staff who assists with bridging the gap between the mechanical designs and the electrical components needed to run and monitor them.

Dan: What are the main differences between control systems designed for Wooden Coasters and those designed for Steel Coasters?

Brian: The main difference is the Wooden Coasters have a much smaller control system. They have at most 4 motors instead of almost 40, fewer brake segments, and very little else to them. As for us, the difference is that we use a smaller processor; there is not nearly as many Inputs and Outputs. However, in the code itself, we try to do everything the same or similar to the Steel Coasters

Dan: Consign AG also designs control systems for water flumes and other thrill rides. It is obvious to most which safety systems are required for roller coasters to operate safely, but what sort of safety systems are involved with these attractions?

Brian: The same systems really. If it is a ride with multiple cars or boats like a log flume, you track the boats through ride block zones. On a flat ride, we might have systems to monitor lapbars or harnesses. Motors though are done the same way, as are air and hydraulic systems that use solenoids.

Dan: Finally, which ride using a Consign control system is your personal favourite, and do any members of Consign AG get to ride the roller coasters?

Brian: Actually we are one of the first to ever ride, and in one or two cases I was in on the very first ride. It is necessary to test things such as how smooth the braking is, or at least that’s what I tell people. As far as favorites go, I’ve always had a hard time coming up with any type of top ride list. I really tend to love so many of them that it’s hard to pick a favorite. From the job standpoint, the project that really stood out for me was Dueling Dragons at Universal Islands of Adventure. To be a part of a brand new park from the very beginning was an incredible experience. I spent months there in total on the ride, setting up the dueling code, and all of the testing. So for me, the dragons are my girls. Every ride has its own personality. Some you’ll love and some will drive you nuts. In the end though there’s nothing like watching the general public riding something that you helped bring to life.

Coaster Force like to thank Brian Ondrey of Consign AG for allowing us this wonderful opportunity to learn about an area of the industry that is rarely explored.