Rube Goldberg Machine
What is a Rube Goldberg Machine?
A Rube Goldberg Machine, named after American cartoonist Rube Goldberg, is a chain reaction–type machine or contraption intentionally designed to perform a simple task in an indirect and (impractically) overly complicated way. (Definition from Wikipedia). Here in STEM, we created a simple RGB with ten steps over a course of 9 days.
Our Work
In our RGM, we decided to pick the theme of golf. We used lots of ramps, along with a pulley and a lever. Our first step is the ball falling down a ramp and then entering a chicken wire tube turning it around. It then hits a wall and falls onto a long ramp gaining speed to hit a weight. The weight and the ball fall down into a small half pipe to catch them. The weight falls and lifts the ramp with the golf ball on it. The ball falls and lands onto a short ramp before hitting a lever to drop it down to one last ramp. It rolls and hits a wedge and lastly lands into the cup.
Presentation:
Blueprints:
Velocity: The speed of an object in one direction. We calculated the velocity of the marble as it rolled down the ramp.
Acceleration: The change in velocity of an object. We calculated the acceleration when the golf ball fell of the ramp attached to the pulley.
Force: The push or pull of an object. Our weight that lifts the ramp is 0.5 kg, so its force is 4.9N
Work: The energy transferred to an object. Work is needed for the marble to hit the weight.
Potential Energy: The energy held by an object because of its position to other objects. The ball has potential energy when it is held above the ramp before being dropped.
Kinetic Energy: The energy an object posses due to its motion. The ball increases its kinetic energy as it rolls down the ramp.
Mechanical Advantage: The ratio of output force to input force. We can calculate the mechanical advantage of the pulley.
Simple Machine: There are six simple machines. We used 4 of them, ramp, pulley, lever, and wedge.
Reflection
I learned how to use the tools at the makerspace and how to use a pulley effectively. I think our group did a good job with using materials. We need to improve on communication and cooperation, and using our time wisely. Next project we should plan our work better and have a clearer picture on the final product. But overall, I think we did a good job and the judges liked what we did.