Disney Geek Out

The Mighty Tim

The Mighty Tim

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I'm a self confessed geek, and proud of it. Before going on my last WDW trip, I got myself a new smartphone with all the bells and whistles. One of the apps I downloaded was an app with which you could measure the outputs of the various sensors contained on the phone. Being the geek that I am, I couldn't resist switching on the logging function as I rode Space Mountain and Mission: SPACE.

So, for all you geeks out there, here's what I got:

mission_space_1_zps86a66fea.png


mission_space_2_zpsc1d59422.png


space_mountain_zps8841e180.png


For the record, I'm not sure what the units of the time-axes are.
 
The Mighty Tim

The Mighty Tim

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
dave&di said:
I'm a bit thick, does this show the movement of the vehicle?!?! :oops:

Explain in simple words please! ;)
Click to expand...


Essentially, yes. It shows the acceleration in the different directions (up and down, left and right, forward and back).

When I was running the app, my phone was in my pocket, and was thus sensitive to my movements as well (e.g. getting in and out of the ride vehicle). So it's not the most accurate representation, but it gives you an idea.
 
dave&di

dave&di

Well-Known Member
The Mighty Tim said:
Essentially, yes. It shows the acceleration in the different directions (up and down, left and right, forward and back).

When I was running the app, my phone was in my pocket, and was thus sensitive to my movements as well (e.g. getting in and out of the ride vehicle). So it's not the most accurate representation, but it gives you an idea.
Click to expand...
Oh thanks! That's quite interesting! I've never been on Space Mountain, your graph now proves to me I'm right not to do it! (insert vomit smilie)!
 
epcotisbest

epcotisbest

Well-Known Member
Guess I m a self confessed non-geek...I don't even take my phone to the parks. I leave it in the room or car. Simply want to be away from the outside world, don't need anyone calling me and I certainly don't waste park time making outgoing calls...but that is just me.
 
spacemt354

spacemt354

Chili's
Very Cool.

Although I would like to know what units of time are on the X axis? And what do X, Y, and Z represent? I notice on the Space Mountain graph, the blue Z line shifts down below the others, then at the end rapidly back up.

Thanks. And don't worry, I'm a geek as well...you're not alone ;)

EDIT: I tried to look up the app on itunes. Was it SensorLog?
 
The Mighty Tim

The Mighty Tim

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
epcotisbest said:
Guess I m a self confessed non-geek...I don't even take my phone to the parks. I leave it in the room or car. Simply want to be away from the outside world, don't need anyone calling me and I certainly don't waste park time making outgoing calls...but that is just me.
Click to expand...

I was also using my phone for it's camera ability too. Plus my folks were at WDW at the same time, and there were times we were going to meet, so we needed to synchronise!

safaribob said:
Very cool. What app did you use?
Click to expand...
spacemt354 said:
Very Cool.

Although I would like to know what units of time are on the X axis? And what do X, Y, and Z represent? I notice on the Space Mountain graph, the blue Z line shifts down below the others, then at the end rapidly back up.

Thanks. And don't worry, I'm a geek as well...you're not alone ;)

EDIT: I tried to look up the app on itunes. Was it SensorLog?
Click to expand...

SensorList Pro from Android is the app I used.

I'm not sure of the time-units on the X-axis, to be honest. I think it might be hundredths of seconds, judging by the Mission:SPACE plots, since the ride length is a little over 4 minutes (240 seconds), and I started logging once I had sat down in the ride vehicle. That might account for some of the jumpiness at the start, as I put the phone back into my pocket!

X, Y and Z are the different directions (forward/backwards, left/right, up/down), but it depends on the orientation of the phone as to which is which.

Bairstow said:
I'm surprised there is such a variance for the 3 runs.
Do you suppose the seat you take in the vehicle has an effect on the acceleration imparted? Aren't the outer two seats of each vehicle moving at a slightly higher speed because the circumference of their travel is slightly larger?

Here's a neat page showing some other accelerometer readings from various Disney rides: http://technology.niagarac.on.ca/people/mcsele/PhysicsAtDisney.html
Click to expand...

That link is awesome!

I suppose the seat in each vehicle would make a difference, but I don't think it would be that noticeable.

mickey2008.1 said:
it appears the oldest ride still gets the heart pumping. would love to see TOT. wher did you get this app?
Click to expand...

Next time, I'll try and get TOT data. I got the app from the Android store (UK).





I should note that this is totally not a scientific study, and was done purely to satisfy my own geeky curiosity. Now, if anyone wants to give me a grant for a free WDW holiday to do a serious scientific study, then I'm all ears! :p
 

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