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Article: Fluid power: adds high-tech thrills in amusement rides; in animatronics and complex motion bases, hydraulics and pneumatics stretch the state of the art.(includes a related article on fluid power components)
- Article from:
- Design News
- Article date:
- June 23, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. (US). This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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It may be industry's ultimate irony: Fluid power, for decades the technology of choice for producing enormous forces in bulldozers and industrial presses, has found a new niche: amusement parks.
If that seems hard to believe, then take a look at some of the country's biggest and best theme parks. Most are loaded with robotic figures that employ hydraulics and pneumatics to lift, twist, roll, and blink. For the past decade, fluid power has breathed life into animatronic figures ranging from prehistoric dinosaurs to U.S. presidents.
But now that role is expanding. Today, fluid power is primed to deliver high-tech thrills to the smaller venues, such as ...