Yeah I saw that I thought it was do to the hardware having issues and they has to rewrite the software to work with current hardware because from what I was reading once they got a few cars going the program would crash. But I think your keyword was budget.....anything is possible just depends how much money you wanna throw at it!
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Any Updates on Test Track Redo?
- Thread starter go3epcot
- Start date
flynnibus
Premium Member
The shuttle was 70s computer technology - I sure hope it has more than the shuttle!
Any real engineer knows this is a control system with a ton of feedback and inputs. Add to that the paranoid level of security required and it's difficult to keep such a system in the green. Now add all the analog and physical aspects of the sensors involved and keeping them reporting honestly. That's a ton of the debugging right there. Things tend to be very unpredictable when you throw them in high intensity environments. So bringing in new concepts is extremely intense to shake down.
Any real engineer knows this is a control system with a ton of feedback and inputs. Add to that the paranoid level of security required and it's difficult to keep such a system in the green. Now add all the analog and physical aspects of the sensors involved and keeping them reporting honestly. That's a ton of the debugging right there. Things tend to be very unpredictable when you throw them in high intensity environments. So bringing in new concepts is extremely intense to shake down.
mickeysbrother
Well-Known Member
All i have to say is that it better not be like last time it first opened. I flew down to Disney 5 times just to ride tt. And every time i got there it was still closed. Hope that there timeline was pushed a little further to not run into the same problem. I will be in the world later September and wishing i can be a guiny pig for the new ride. I can always dream 
cspencer96
Well-Known Member
When I first heard the comparison of Test Track ride vehicles' computing power and the space shuttle, I was amazed. Then I asked my uncle, at that time a chief engineer in the shuttle program and now part of the move to SpaceX, about it, and he said that it is not at all impressive. The space shuttle was run on almost the same technology for its entire run as the primary vehicle of spaceflight for the United States, and that run started in the 70s. The reason: it worked. And why change something that works so well, you almost never have to fix it (the computer programming, not the mechanical mess that was bound to happen)? According to my uncle, one of the more advanced Nokia candy bar phones of the early 2000s could have run the space shuttle. Very impressive when you consider what a marvel of engineering the shuttle program was, but the comparison to Test Track really shouldn't be made anymore.
cheezbat
Well-Known Member
Personally, I don't care how long this 're-imagining' refurb takes as long as its done right and completely worthwhile at the end. Yeah I missed it being open on my last visit, but this ride needed some major work. I'm looking forward to the final result...even if it means I don't get to ride it again until sometime in 2013.
t3techcom18
Well-Known Member
Bingo.
Did some more research online to clarify how unique the ride system really is...
- It takes 8.8 seconds to accelerate from 0-65 for the High Speed Test.
- Each vehicle was designed to last for approximately one million miles and travels about 50,000 miles in any given year.
- There are 32 vehicles in total, but only 25-26 are on the track at any one time.
- Each car as a total of 22 wheels, although only four are seen by the guests.
- There are six braking systems on each car.
- Each test vehicle contains three onboard computers. Making 100 million ride-system calculations per second, the computers have more processing power than the Space Shuttle.
- Each computer system in one of the "Test Track" vehicles had enough power to run all the rides and attractions in the Magic Kingdom. (This is something I myself have never heard before but more than a few sites say it and I honestly wouldn't doubt it.)
Plus remember, the entire ride system/ride vehicles were created completely from scratch.
RSoxNo1
Well-Known Member
The info that I had was that there are 35 vehicles with a max of 27 on the track at any one time.
Tom
Beta Return
25....27.....whatever it takes.
Alektronic
Well-Known Member
Ride Vehicles - yes. Ride System - no. It is the same ride system as Indiana Jones/CTX but the program is different with different control zones.
flynnibus
Premium Member
Isn't that like saying man and women are the same, just with some different programming?
Yes they are decendents - but when you change so much, how does one call it the same thing? Indy wasn't designed to support vehicle speeds of 60+ mph. Nor lateral forces like TT supports nor the types of accelerations used. No way they just took the same exact boggie design, track surfaces, and mechanics and said 'here, reprogram this to the new show sequences'.
Tom
Beta Return
Don't Indy/Dinosaur vehicles use the trackless (embedded wire) system, like ToT and GMR? Maybe not...but I thought they did.
Regardless, and Martin can certain step in and clarify, even if they are similar track types, I wouldn't consider TT's ride system (sans vehicles) to be a clone. If it were, it would work all the time like Indy/Dino.
t3techcom18
Well-Known Member
Theoretically yes, the max you can put on the system is 27 but management doesn't like to put more than 25 or else the cars back up more than they should.
RSoxNo1
Well-Known Member
What about the total number of vehicles. Can anyone verify whether it's 32 or 35?
flynnibus
Premium Member
No, they use self propelled vehicles that use a boggie/rail system that is ran underneath the road surface.
I would have thought by now people would have given up on that 'Disney by the numbers' site since it doesn't require nor list sources for stuff people submit. It's full of contradictions and inaccuracies.
RSoxNo1
Well-Known Member
Actually it looks like according to their site they only have 31 cars
http://disneybythenumbers.com/wdw/futureworld.html
Tom
Beta Return
Sounds like their worst case scenario must have been pretty bad. Hope they added a bit more "factor of error" after that.
RSoxNo1
Well-Known Member
I believe the worst case scenario test they're referring to was when they turned off every safety procedure and the car crashed into the side of the building.
Tom
Beta Return
Totally sweet, dude.
cspencer96
Well-Known Member
The ride system is incredibly unique, and very very impressive on its own. A theme park ride doing that many calculations in a second? Amazing. I was just saying that the Space Shuttle comparison is more marketing jargon, because the Shuttle's control system was so out of date. Test Track's ride system is still very impressive, more impressive than people give it credit for. I hope the new version of Test Track will do the ride system justice, like the old version did at the time of its debut.