Rube Goldberg Machine

What is a Rube Goldberg Machine?

A Rube Goldberg machine is a very complex machine that is created to accomplish a very simple goal. It focuses or a series of chain reactions, usually with a variety of machines. For example, a marble rolling down a very complex course with buttons, trapdoors, levers, and spiral ramps, all to achieve the flipping of a light switch.

The Task

My STEM group, consisting of Marc Clemenceau, Quincy Dean, and Dylan Crafter, and myself, was assigned the task to create our own working Rube Goldberg machine over a period of 9 collective days.  On top of that, we had to choose a general theme for the project, as well as a defined end goal.  The theme we ended up choosing was "around the world." We would have our machine operate as any other, while it takes your eyes through a course of landmarks and monuments. We were free to do whatever we liked with the project, the only requirements being 10 steps, 4 energy transfers, and 5 simple machines.

Final Product

Overall were were very happy with the result of our project.  We met all the requirements, and made the intended finish of raising a flag. We turned out to be the only group that decided to make our layout horizontally. On top of that, our machine worked almost flawlessly while presenting. We ended up including the Golden Gate Bridge, the Eiffel Tower, a volcano, The Great Wall of China, a pyramid, and the London Eye. Our team had very good collaboration and natural chemistry which helped us stay on track while still enjoying the project.

Our slideshow Presentation

Construction Log

We had a few weeks to work on the machine, plan it out, and finish our presentations. For the first bit of time we made the blueprints and got all of our ideas together. Then we had 9 build days to finish our project and a few extra for details.

Day 1 - We started our Golden Gate Bridge foundation

Day 2 - Finished Golden Gate Bridge and lever

Day 3 - Started Eiffel Tower

Day 4 - Finish Eiffel Tower

Day 5 - Started volcano and Great Wall of China

Day 6 - Finished Great Wall of China and set up Dominoes

Day 7 - Finished volcano and started pyramid

Day 8 - Finished pyramid and Started London eye

Day 9 - Finished London Eye and other missing detailed

For the last few days we made our presentation and practiced presenting it.

Video of RG Machine 

Physics Definitions

The are many terms and variables that could be confusing or new, so here are a few :

Velocity (v) - Rate of covered/traveled distance in a direction. You find velocity by dividing the change in distance by the change in time. (v=d/t)

Acceleration (a) - Rate of change of velocity. You find the acceleration by dividing the change in velocity by the change in time. (a=v/t)

Force (F) - Push or pull on object that causes change in motion. To find the force of something you have to do Force = mass times acceleration (F=ma)

Work (W) - Energy put into a task or something. You get Work by multiplying Force and distance. (W=Fd)

Potential Energy (PE) - Energy an object has due to its height or position in a gravitational field. To find PE you multiply the mass, gravity, and height all together. (PE=mgh)

Kinetic Energy (KE) - Energy due to motion. KE is a bit difficult to get because it is half of the mass times velocity squared. (KE=1/2mv^2)

Mechanical Advantage (MA) - There is MA real which is how much easier a tool makes a task, and there is MA ideal which is how much further you have to push using a tool. To get MA-real you have to do MA-real equals Force of load divided by Force of effort. (MA-real=Fload/Feffort). To get MA-ideal you do distance of effort divided by distance of load. (MA-ideal=deffort/dload)

Simple Machines - A tool that makes an objective easier. There are 6 different types which are lever, Wheel and axle, screw, Wedge, inclined plane, and pulley.

Final Blueprints

Reflection

I think that our group did an amazing job. We all worked very hard to finish the project on time. On top of that, our presentations ran very smoothly, which is a huge success. We did a good job brainstorming for ideas in our project as well as coming to agreements on issues while building.

I think that the only thing we could have done better was had more structure in the first couple days of building. In the first few days, we goofed off a little too much, a little because we got a long well, but mostly because we didn't have a good plan layed out and ready to be fufilled. However, after those couple days had past, we made huge progress with both the functionality and aesthetics of the build. Even though we started out rough, we managed to pull ourselves together and execute our project well.