From my personal experience GoPro seriously needs to address a lot of issues and improve the material of their camera housings, before parks will even consider them safe to use on thrill rides. I have already gone through 2 camera housings for my GoPro Hero 4 Silver and if you purchase them directly from GoPro they are quite expensive $49.99 and tend to break fairly easily. Thankfully, the camera housing broke while I was changing out the back frames and not on a ride, but it could have been a serious safety hazard if it had broken off on a ride. Here we are going to discuss some areas that GoPro needs to improve in their products. This information should also be made known to anyone filming while on a roller coaster, which includes media, park employees, etc. I'm sure that park employees take the necessary precautions to film, but even still there runs the risk of something breaking, because of the poor material used when put up against high speeds and high G forces.
Right now the old Hero housings are made of a hard plastic. The plastic can become cracked especially from constant use of opening/closing. From my pictures below, you will notice where the latch on top and the plastic grip that holds the frames into place broke off. Another issue that needs to be addressed is the plastic connector for the wrist mount. After constant use the grips that hold the camera in place wear and will crack causing the screw to become loose and unsecure. These cracks from normal wear and tare can become a major safety hazard in any high extreme sport, which includes roller coasters. If you notice from my photos below you can already begin to see signs of cracking in the plastic from where the back frames are attached. Changing out the frames can cause wear onto the plastic connector, where it will eventually break off. I spoke with a GoPro tech support via GoPro chat and they said that the camera would not be secure if the bottom latch broke off.
GoPro needs to look into creating a housing that can withstand high G forces and fast acceleration from constant use. The material needs to be sturdy, light, and affordable. Some materials that might work are fiberglass, carbon fiber, titanium, aluminum, and several others. Titanium would be a great one to use, but may be too expensive to make.
I have yet to thoroughly test the durability of the new Hero 7 housing, but hopefully they improved it significantly.
There are a lot of great opportunities for GoPro to make their products better and safer if they would just take advantage. Many universities throughout the world have mechanical engineering programs and one way that GoPro could get the best development is propose a contest. University students from around the world could come up with a prototype of a camera housing and mounts for GoPro that would meet certain requirements. Strong material enough to withstand high G forces and fast acceleration, cheap to make, durable, etc. The submissions would then be voted on and a prize awarded to the university team that came up with the best design.
GoPro seriously needs to meet with amusement park officials to work with them on designing a camera housing and mounts that can be used safely on rides. Even with the hands free camera policy that Busch Gardens has allowed, it still doesn't protect from poor materials used on GoPro cameras.
If parks will allow GoPros, then they will be able to monitor them and keep their guests more safe, by checking the camera mounts and housings. By allowing GoPros it also should keep guests from sneaking cameras on unsecured and holding them in their hands. Parks can cut down this risk even more if they will simply allow GoPros. However, park employees will still need to check for wear and tear of housings, mounts, etc. before being allowed onto a ride.
