Rube Goldberg was a cartoonist who was famous for his crazy cartoons and silly machines. He made the machines to make simple tasks happen in the most elaborate ways. It takes many elaborate steps to complete a single action. One of his more famous drawings is the self-operating napkin.
Our task was to push a Hot Wheels car into a "city" that was painted onto our board. Our group was made up of me, Ibuki Toshi, Ethan Smith, and Bryce Timmel. We had 9 days to build our machine, and 6 weeks to calculate, present, learn, and prepare. Our theme was nature and the city.
Velocity - Velocity is similar to speed and we used it to find other variables
Acceleration - Acceleration is how fast something speeds up
Force - Force is used in our pulley
Work - Work is how much something is being done vs how much effort gets put in
Potential and Kinetic energy - PE is how much energy it could have, and KE is how much energy it does have
Mechanical Advantage - MA applies to any machine, how much easier is it?
Simple machines - Pulley, ramp, lever, screw, wheel and axle, wedge
Construction logs - Logs to keep track of what you are working on
I learned that I cannot let people get on my nerves and I have to let things go. I believe that I did well in my character and conscientious learner part of the 6 C's. I want to work on my communication and collaboration skills. I learned that people may get on my nerves but there will always be one person you can get along with, if not, create that person for yourself and continue to try and assist the group.
I had to work with 3 other people, it was hard to get along at first. We disagreed on almost everything at first but in the end, we all worked together and created a working machine. The machine faced challenges including a problem with weight distribution and problems with the pipes. The pulley would get stuck sometimes and it was difficult to fix. When we finally fixed it in time for our presentation it worked perfectly.
Over the course of 9 days, we completed the machine and created a presentation showcasing it. We presented it in front of judges, people who graduated, and people who are actual engineers, and we got graded well for our performance.
Our build steps were all over the place working on many things. Day one: We gathered materials and started working on the screw. Day 2: We put more things/steps onto the board and drilled more holes. Day 3: We finished the screw and worked on ramps. Day 4: We worked on the pulley, more ramps, and the pipes. Day 5: We began painting and continued with our many ramps. Day 6: More ramp work and more painting. Day 7: Even more ramps (at this point I would like to apologize for the ramps) and painting. Day 8: Finished painting and worked with cars as well as adjusted ramps. Day 9: Fixed screw and calculated measurements and other needed variables.
I worked on math, painting, building, and making some slides for our presentation. I worked on the tube, the screw, and the ramps. Our final project had 11 steps. (Blueprints and construction log can be found in the slideshow below).