amusement bumper car

Bumper cars or dodgems is the generic name for a type of flat ride consisting of several small electrically powered cars which draw power from the floor and/or ceiling, and which are turned on and off remotely by an operator. They are also known as bumping cars, dodging cars and dashing cars.

Power is commonly supplied by one of three methods:

• The oldest and most common method uses a conductive floor and ceiling, each with a separate power polarity. Contacts under the vehicle touch the floor while a pole-mounted contact touches the ceiling, forming a complete circuit.
• A newer method uses alternating strips of metal across the floor separated by insulating spacers, and no ceiling grid. The alternating strips carry the supply current, and the cars are large enough so that the vehicle body can always cover at least two strips at any one time. An array of brushes under each car make random contact with whatever strip is below, and the voltage polarity on each contact is sorted out to always provide a correct and complete circuit to operate the vehicle.
• The bumper cars run on batteries. This avoids the conductive floor/ceiling of the traditional bumper cars setup, as the SeaPlex venue is to be readily convertible from a bumper cars ride to a multipurpose gym (basketball court). The disadvantage is that these ships' bumper cars take several hours to recharge their batteries.