In Europa-Park in Rust near Freiburg, Germany, the fastening expert fischer is testing its construction monitoring solution in pilot operation. Five screw connections on the seat consoles of the “blue fire Megacoaster” roller coaster were supplemented by SensorBolts, which have integrated force measurement and transmission technology. As a result, the products are tested in pilot use under very demanding operating conditions. High forces are repeatedly applied to the roller coaster seat bolt connections. If the fischer Construction Monitoring solution proves its worth in the project, it can expand the security concept of Europa-Park in the future.
In close cooperation with TÜV Süd, SensorBolts were successfully added to five seat bolt connections of a train on the “blue fire Megacoster” roller coaster in Europa-Park. These are each equipped with a SensorNode, which reliably transfers the measured values from the screws to a gateway installed in Europa-Park. From there, the data arrives end-to-end encrypted in a cloud storage and is made accessible via a customer-specific dashboard.
The SensorBolts allow continuous monitoring and thus guarantee the permanent reliability of the bolted connections on the seat consoles. System operators can conveniently view the status of the fastening points at any time via PC or smartphone. With the SensorBolt and SensorNode products in the pre-series stage, the fastening expert fischer carries out a demanding suitability test here. Europa-Park is testing the pioneering solution for its practicality.
Daniel Machauer, Project Manager at fischer Deutschland Vertriebs GmbH, explains: "With our SensorBolts, the bolting points of the seat consoles are continuously monitored at all times, even remotely, and precise data on their condition is collected. The aim is to accurately and permanently measure forces arising from recurring loads, which are particularly exerted on the connections by passengers and high G-forces."
The integration of our SensorBolts into safety concepts enables even more targeted planning of maintenance measures.
Felix Düllo, Product Manager at fischer Deutschland Vertriebs GmbH, emphasises: "The integration of our SensorBolts into safety concepts enables even more targeted planning of maintenance measures. This reduces downtime and costs - while improving the already high safety requirements and the long service life of the systems."
The pilot project in the Europa-Park came about after a successful product presentation, in which the advantages of fischer sensor technology were convincing. Daniel Machauer explains: "We are very pleased that Europa-Park has decided to pilot our sensor innovation. The high quality, innovative technology and the possibility of real-time monitoring of safety-relevant connections speak for our fischer Construction Monitoring."
“Our innovation combines an intuitive monitoring application and strong, sensor-integrated fasteners in a smart way,” emphasises Martin Neumann. "The condition of fastening points can be easily monitored at any time via PC or smartphone - this increases maintenance efficiency, enables cost savings, increases safety, reduces downtime and extends the useful life of structures and equipment. We look forward to continuing to prove the advantages of our construction monitoring solution in practice - and unlocking many other applications in pilot deployments."
