LAS VEGAS HIGH ROLLER

World’s Tallest Observation Wheel

Application Description:

At 550 feet high, the High Roller soars over the Las Vegas skyline and reins as the world’s tallest (Ferris) observation wheel, eclipsing both the London Eye (443’) and Singapore Flyer (541’). What an amazing ride experience it offers! The wheel takes 30 minutes to complete one full revolution and features 28 glass-enclosed cabins offering unobstructed 360-degree views of the famed resort city.  With a total capacity of 1,120 passengers, each spherical cabin offers an expansive 225 square-feet of space which can either accommodate up to 40 traditional tourists  or can be rented out for the ultimate bachelor, bachelorette or wedding party.  Only in Las Vegas…

Requirements:

As an outdoor transportation system, the High Roller shares the same critical requirements as the Cable Cars discussed in the previous section:

• Immune to EMI, RFI and ground loops
• Immune to lightning
• Weatherproof and rugged for outdoor use
• High reliability for passenger safety and 24/7 operation
• Adaptable to measuring wheel application

Solution:

The High Roller project was announced in August 2011 as the centerpiece of Caesar’s Entertainment Corporation’s $550 million “The LINQ Hotel and Casino”. Micronor worked with prime contractor Schwager Davis Inc. who was responsible for all of the mechanization equipment for the High Roller.  At the engineering level, Heywood Engineering’s Lance Heywood selected the Micronor fiber optic encoders for drive feedback based on his experience with Doppelmayr/Frey aerial trams.

Schwager Davis developed the hydraulic system which provides the propulsion and normal breaking force for the system in normal use to rotate the wheel.  There are a total of eight (8) Drive Units, each of which has four (4) large tires that provide the traction force to rotate the wheel.  One full revolution of the wheel takes 30 minutes. The drive system is capable of rotating the wheel in both directions and has a total of 1000 HP.

The MR326 encoder was adapted with a friction wheel, by riding the rim of the High Roller just like the traction tires of the motor drives. A modified version of the Micronor MRAD spring-loaded measuring wheel arm was designed to accommodate the MR326 encoder and special Micronor 0.5-meter (1.64 feet) tufted rubber-coated wheel. For redundancy, each of these measuring wheel encoder systems is mounted on the east and west sides of the rim, synchronizing the rotation of the High Roller.

With a diameter of 520 feet, how many encoder pulses correspond to one complete revolution?  The circumference (π*d) is 1633.62 feet. Divide by the measuring wheel circumference comes to 996.11 revolutions of the encoder.  With an encoder resolution of 256ppr, that calculates to 255,005 pulses per revolution of the High Roller! Position resolution of the gigantic wheel is better than 2mm (0.1”)

Implementation:

The High Roller offered its first rides on March 31, 2014.  In its first full year of operation (2015), the High Roller averaged 5,000 passengers per day corresponding to just under 2,000,000 passengers per year – serviced reliably by Micronor fiber optic encoders.

Products Used:

• MR326-C12C1R5 Encoder
• MR320 Controller
• 9350.02.093 Measuring Wheel Arm
• 9350.02.095 Tufted Rubber Coated Wheel

Numbers:

550 At 550 feet, the High Roller is the world’s tallest observation wheel

30 30 minutes for one revolution of the High Wheel

256 Resolution in pulses per revolution (ppr) of the MR326-C12C1R5 encoders used

2 Two MR326 rotary encoders are used for feedback in the High Roller drive control system

2 Can resolve gondola position within 2mm