An industrial robot might turn out to be the Next Big Thing at amusement parks. The Robocoaster is essentially a massive robotic arm with a rollercoaster-type harness attached to the end of it:
Kuka claims to be the first company in the world to use PC controls in its industrial robots, typically used in large car assembly lines. It uses Microsoft Windows to control the freestanding, 30-foot-tall, nearly 8,000-pound robotic ride. “It picks you up and it pulls you through different motions in G-forces that get exerted on your body,” Manzella says. “It’s mainly dynamic movements that nobody’s ever seen before. And unlike traditional amusement park rides, the robo-ride gives riders an additional “thrill” from its unpredictable movements. “Normally, when you’re sitting on a roller coaster, you’re looking forward and you can look down the roller coaster and you can know where you’re going,” he says. “In this particular ride, you never know where you’re going next.”
It’s about time they finally found something frivolous for industrial robots to do, but wait a second. Are you really going to strap yourself to a 30-foot tall, 8,000 pound ride that’s controlled by a PC running Windows? Hate to take a cheap shot here, but I wouldn’t even trust a PC to control my air conditioner, let alone some gigantic robotic arm that could potentially hurl me to my death.
