Rube Goldberg Machine

A Rube Goldberg Machine is a machine used to complete a simple task using different simple machines. My group and I decided to make a project with an around the world theme. We had 3 weeks to make our project. The travel started at the Golden Gate Bridge and ended up in the Pacific Ocean. Some of the other places visited on the travel were the Pyramids of Egypt, the Taj Mahal, the Eiffel Tower, and the Amazon jungle. Since we are in online school every person had to build their own part and connect them through videos. It worked out well in the end and the project was fun.

We used 5 total simple machines to complete the project. The 5 were incline plane, pulley, screw, wedge, and a lever. They were all a challenge to make and get to work consistently. I would say the most challenging to make for me was the pulley. We also added design elements into our project. Design elements are ways to design it to catch the viewers eyes. Our 3 elements of design were pattern, balance and emphasis.

Here is a picture of my blueprints. On the left is my initial blueprint and on the right is my final blueprint.

My first blueprint was a base sketch of what I wanted my project to look like. It had no calculations or measurements. The Final blueprint which is on the right has a full layout drawn to scale with measurements and calculations.

Construction log:

WEEK ONE: On day one we decided on our theme (Around the World) and began a cartoon showing the story. Then, for the rest of the week we planned out our ideas and drew the initial blueprints.

WEEK TWO: We finalized the blueprints, and began collecting our different materials. We then started to build the steps of our Rube Goldberg Machines.

WEEK THREE:

At the beginning of this week, we worked on the final steps of our machines and integrated the theme into the project using design elements and decorations.

The last few days of the week we made calculations for the velocity, acceleration, and mechanical advantage.

WEEK FOUR:

We worked to perfect our machines and create a presentation that displayed our information in an effective way. We created this slideshow, took pictures of different parts of our machine, and took the final videos of the project in action.

Calculations for the project:

Velocity: The velocity is the rate of covered distance in a direction. You find velocity by dividing the change of distance over the change in time. The velocity changed at different parts of the project but its average 0.35m/s.

Acceleration: The acceleration is how fast the marble picks up speed or slows down. You find this using change in velocity over change in time. The acceleration of my part of the project was 0.14 m/s squared.

Force: The force is the push or pull on an object causing a change in motion. The equation is F= MA. The force is 0.07 Newtons.

Work: The work is the amount of energy put into doing something. The equation is W=Fd. The work is 0 because there was no energy put into to any actions.

Potential energy: Potential energy is energy an object has due to its position at a height in the gravitational field. Equation= mgh. My potential energy was 0.12J.

Kinetic energy: kinetic energy is energy due to motion. Equation= KE=1/2mv^2. My Kinetic energy was 0.49J.

Mechanical Advantage: MA is how much easier a tool makes a task. The equation is MA real=Fload/Feffort. The mechanical advantage of my pulley is 1.

Reflection: Overall this project went really well. It was a fun first project in STEM. We worked well as a team and solved all the problems we faced. Some things I did well was Productivity and Cooperation. I worked hard every day to get the project to the best I could and listened to any ideas my teammates had for me. Two things that I could improve on are leadership and empathy for teammates. I will try to be more active as a teammate and ask if my groups needs help on anything. I will also see what kind of situation my teammates are in and see if there is anything I can do to help them. This was a great project to get better and improve at working with a team. I thought for out first team project it went really well but you could always improve on something.

IMG_0661.MOV

I couldn't get the third video onto the website. You can see it on slide 13 of the attached slideshow.