Rube Goldberg Machine

Definition

A Rube Goldberg machine is a complex machine that performs a simple task.

Evidence of work

In STEM, we had to build a Rube Goldberg machine as our first project. We had about three weeks to design and build our machines. We worked in groups of three that were determined alphabetically by last name.

Mr. Williams gave us a few minutes to brainstorm theme ideas. My group ended up choosing SpongeBob as our theme. After choosing the theme, we each got to design a storyboard for our machine, and, later, a blueprint. My group chose the blueprint I had drawn as the one we would use. As a result of difficulty acquiring parts combined with a lack of time, our final machine greatly differed from my original blueprint.

The goal of our machine was to stop Plankton from stealing the Krabby Patty secret formula by crushing him. However, since we had changed our machine's design with so little time left, we were unable to acquire the correct amount of weight to allow the marble to set off the lever. Because of this setback, we had to operate the lever manually. Beside that, our machine functioned as expected. The reason we had to change our design was because, through trial and error, we ended up requiring more space for the screw than anticipated — we were unable to 3D print it as we had originally planned to. This caused us to have to move the finale of our machine.

Content

*All definitions are from the Oxford English Dictionary

Velocity: the speed of something in a given direction. The average velocity of the 8 gram (or 0.008 kg) marble while travelling just under 4 meters was about 0.4625 m/s. To calculate the average velocity, we measured the distance the ball traveled on each part of the machine, plus an approximation of the distance the ball had free-fallen, and added them together. We then found the mean, after which, we divided the distance mean by the total time, which we got by measuring the time it took the ball to go completely through the machine. v = d/t

Acceleration: the rate of change of velocity per unit of time. To calculate the average acceleration of the marble, we added up the accelerations we calculated for each part of the machine and found the mean — 0.4125 m/s². a = v/t

Force: an influence tending to change the motion of a body or produce motion or stress in a stationary body. To calculate the average force of the marble whiling going through the machine, we added the forces we calculated for each part of the machine and found the mean — 2.6556 N. F = ma

Work: the exertion of force overcoming resistance or producing molecular change. The average work done by the simple machines on our Rube Goldberg Machine was about 1.8625 J. To calculate the average work, we added up the work we calculated for each simple machine and found the mean. W = Fd

Potential Energy: the energy possessed by a body by virtue of its position relative to others, stresses within itself, electric charge, and other factors. Since potential energy equals work, the average potential energy of the simple machines was 1.8625 J. PE = mgh

Kinetic Energy: energy which a body possesses by virtue of being in motion. Since kinetic energy equals potential energy, the average kinetic energy of the simple machines was 1.8625 J. KE = 1/2 m v²

Mechanical Advantage: the ratio of the force produced by a machine to the force applied to it, used in assessing the performance of a machine. To calculate the machine's average mechanical advantage, we divided the output mean by the input mean. The result was about 2. MA=D/d or MA = output force/input force

Simple Machines: any of the basic mechanical devices for applying a force, such as an inclined plane, wedge, or lever. There are 6 simple machines; the lever, wheel and axle, pulley, wedge, screw, and inclined plane.

Blueprinting Schematics in Scale: in my group, each member designed scale schematics for our final 4' by 4' machine. We chose my design as our final draft. Through trial and error, we greatly changed our final machine from the schematics. This was actually mostly due to lack of time and insufficient materials.

Construction Logs: we kept construction logs of pre-build days, build days, and post-build days to help us observe our efficiency in building our Rube Goldberg machine. Our construction logs are in the presentation we made.

Rube Goldberg Machine Presentation

Reflection

During this project, two things I did well include collaborating and communicating. I collaborated well by sharing the work load with my group members, and being flexible in what task I did — whether it was sawing, drilling, sanding, etc. An example of my collaboration would be when I stopped working on the screw for our machine and began working on the lever so my teammate who was having difficulty getting the Iever to work could, instead, attach the screw to our board. I communicated well by not only sharing my thoughts and ideas, but by also listening to the thoughts and ideas of my teammates. I treated no idea as a bad one, even though not all of them were completely practical. An example of my communication would have to be when one of my group members didn't want to use the theme we had chosen. Rather than bringing up the fact that it was a majority vote, I calmly persuaded him to change his mind. I also attempted to remain tactful and supportive during this whole endeavor.

Two skills I could improve in include creativity, as well as critical thinking and problem solving. Although, generally, I am pretty creative, sometimes, when working on big projects, such as this one, I tend to get tunnel vision — so to speak. I can work on this by incorporating more constructive criticism into my work. I am, generally, pretty good at critical thinking and problem solving as well, however, for more complex issues, I also tend to get tunnel vision. This too can be improved upon through communication. I plan on communicating much more in future endeavors. Although, on this project, I feel communicated well, I am also quite certain that I didn't communicate nearly enough. I now realize that too much communication — in a scientific milieu — is probably more of a good thing than a bad one — in most cases.

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