As president and chief operating officer of Ronbotics Corp., she is banking on her company's patented product--a motion base for an arcade roller-coaster simulator--to make it a success.

While Davis says she believes wholeheartedly in the patented motion base, which was developed by her husband, Ron Borta, chief technical officer of the Sterling, Va.,-based company, she's not a fan of the real thing. Her reluctance to ride a real coaster is a key to the potential of the company's simulator game, the Coaster Rider.

"A lot of families go to amusement parks, but not everyone in each family likes roller coasters. This is a way for everyone to have fun," Davis says. "You can still participate in the roller coaster your kids or spouse like, but you don't have to be scared."

What separates the ride base, which is made of off-the-shelf components, from its competition is its relatively low cost. Ronbotics can sell its Coaster Rider for $17,000 vs. about $80,000 for a comparable, full-motion arcade ride, and its base sells to other ride manufacturers for only $3,500. Other companies start their bases at about $18,000 and climb rapidly from there, Davis says.

"We did the Coaster Rider as a proof-of-concept," Davis explains. "People went crazy with it, so we're focusing on that in the future. A lot of people are looking at how much the Coaster Rider costs and they're looking into the motion base, which in the long haul, will be the bulk of our business."

In the meantime, the orders are flying in for the ride itself. Ronbotics, which originally had projected sales of about 600 for the Coaster Rider, now expects to sell 1,300 by 2002, with sales of $221 million. Sales of the base to other game manufacturers are anticipated to top $350 million a year within two years.

Davis, who is responsible for the daily operations of the 24-employee company, admits she was skeptical when her husband dreamed up the concept. The two had sold their first company, Borta Inc., which developed software for the multimedia and video game industry, to PlayNet Technology Corp. in 1995. Davis had worked there for an additional year when her husband pitched her his latest idea.

"We spent a year doing research on the industry," she says, "going to trade shows, talking to people, looking at other products to make sure there was a market out there."

Once they determined that arcade owners would jump at the chance to buy a ride for the cost of a video game, they spent the next few years developing a prototype and working out the manufacturing system.

For their own Coaster Rider product, they went to Cedar Point, an amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio, ranked number one for its coasters by aficionados, and, eventually, they licensed six of its thrill rides.

To further distinguish their ride from the pack, they had it choreographed to music specially written by '70s rock star Peter Frampton, whom they met when their vice president of sales arranged for him to sign autographs at a trade show.

"His music adds a lot to the coaster," Davis says. "Some people consider it kind of boring when you're going to the top of a hill. With Frampton's music, it adds to the anticipation. The music gets more and more intense the higher you go."

As the mother of a toddler, Davis likes that her product is "good, clean fun" in an industry that's received criticism for encouraging violence.

"Two people can sit next to each other and enjoy it," she says. "It's good fun, but it's also unique. You can really feel the motion underneath you. When you're looking at the 41-inch monitor in front of you, a lot of your peripheral vision is taken up. You can really feel it."

With a backlog of Coaster Rider orders, Ronbotics already is in pre-production for its next ride simulator, a white-water rafting experience to be introduced in the second quarter of 2000. A third product, a motion pinball game, will be developed by the end of the year.

While Davis has been integral to the company's launch, she almost didn't join the fledgling enterprise full time. She had been interviewing for other jobs and was close to accepting an offer when her husband said he needed her help to get the company off the ground. She said yes, on one condition.

"After long thought, I said, 'I'll work for you, but you have to pay me. I'm not going to do it for free.' He said, 'I can't pay you now, but I will pay you eventually.'"

Having met her husband through a former job at an interactive television company in Chicago, Davis knew the pros and cons of working with a spouse. She's glad she made the leap once again.

"We've had a lot of practice at it," she says. "He's definitely big picture, and I'm down in the trenches with the details of the business. We pretty much have a dividing line that neither of us crosses. He does the engineering side, and I do the business side. It's good.

"In the previous company I had, and in this company, too, I'm working with somebody I trust. That's very valuable. You can't buy that.

"There are some drawbacks. Work kind of overrides into your personal life. But, that's smaller than the benefits of working with someone who is on your side. You trust them, and they trust you, and, from the business side, you know they're going to do what's right for the company."