{"id":68994,"date":"2025-09-18T02:17:00","date_gmt":"2025-09-18T06:17:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/simcenter\/?p=68994"},"modified":"2026-03-26T06:48:56","modified_gmt":"2026-03-26T10:48:56","slug":"oktoberfest-wheel-simcenter-amesim","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.sw.siemens.com\/simcenter\/oktoberfest-wheel-simcenter-amesim\/","title":{"rendered":"Simulating fun: Exploring the Oktoberfest ferris wheel with Simcenter Amesim"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Oktoberfest spirit<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

I have been living in Munich for the past 12 years and consider myself an adopted M\u00fcnchener. I particularly enjoy the month of September, when the weather is still great and the world’s largest popular festival, Oktoberfest, is approaching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For readers outside Munich, it’s worth noting that Oktoberfest begins in the middle of September and concludes on the first Sunday of October. However, it traditionally extends to include October 3rd (German Unity Day), with most of the action taking place in September.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ever since I was a child visiting the popular festivities in my village, I have always been fascinated by the rides. I enjoy watching how they are set up, how they operate, and of course, riding on them. One of the highlights of Oktoberfest for me nowadays is seeing the new rides that come each year, as well as enjoying Munich beer and Brezeln (Bavarian name for pretzels).<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Welcome
Welcome to the Oktoberfest<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

Crafting the ride<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

One of the most iconic attractions at Oktoberfest is a giant Ferris wheel. Inspired by this, why not create a System Simulation model of it? I present to you its Digital Twin: The Siemens Digital Ferris Wheel powered by Simcenter Amesim. This simulation offers you a unique perspective on the inner workings of a Ferris wheel without the need to physically ride one. But how was it created?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As with every project, it all began with brainstorming, creating small drafts, gathering information and data from real Ferris wheels for reference, and making hand drawings to visualize how it should look. I made certain assumptions (I won’t delve into the nerdy engineering equations here). For instance, I decided to develop a 2D planar mechanical model since the movement only occurs in one plane and started by modeling 6 small simple triangle shaped cabins rotating around the shape of a hexagon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n