Rube Goldberg Machine Project

For my first year Cornerstone of Engineering class at Northeastern, engineering students were prompted to complete a semester long project in groups of 3-4. We were tasked with the goal of creating a Rube Goldberg Machine that is winter wonderland and kitchen themed. We needed to contribute to the full project by creating part of the machine as a group then pairing it up smoothly and in an organized way with the machine part of the other groups' before and after us, which ultimately builds the entirety of the machine as a class effort.

The criteria each group had to meet was:

Solving a simple task
Funny or ridiculous
One step triggers the next
Made with everyday objects

-Be built primarily with scavenged materials that are related to the theme

-Contain at least as many steps as people (likely 4)

-Use a microcontroller with at least one input and one output

-Incorporate at least two distinct simple machines (lever, pulley, inclined plane, wedge, screw, and wheel and axle)

I used my developing knowledge of engineering design, mechanisms, programming, rapid prototyping, and electronics to create my groups' machine that ultimately leads the ending team to accomplish the task. In our case, the task was to pop confetti and play holiday music.

Our part of the Rube Goldberg Machine was for a marble to be rolled from the group before us into a cup which triggers a pulley to push a cup down which triggers another cup to be pulled upwards, hitting a ramp that another ball is resting on which will be sent down a pathway into the next groups creation.

Pseudocode Flowchart: The pseudocode flowchart below depicts each coding function of our project

Process:

Our prototype reflected similar features to the project proposal; however, after trying to create a tangible version, we did see some changes in the design. The simple components and functions of the project stayed the same, which include the pulley, lever, and the idea of a ball rolling off afterwards. The materials we used were also similar to what we stated we would use in the proposal, which included plastic cups, string, and cardboard.

In our proposal, we identified the pulley as the most complex part of the Rube Goldberg Machine and what we anticipated would be the most difficult aspect of this design. With a pulley there are various factors and forces at play, many of which are not easily calculable, and we feared that it would be difficult to make our pulley consistent and reliable. Given that we were most apprehensive of this portion (and that it is the first step of our machine), we made sure to start by working on this segment. Research was conducted on examples of other pulleys made of flimsier materials such as paper and cardboard. After this research, it was decided that given the various forces at play and difficulty to calculate a pulley’s motion ahead of time, it would be best to just proceed with prototyping and learn by doing, with adjustments or reworkings made as necessary.

Much of our design was kept consistent between our first prototype, second, and final. The main differences would be our pulley - we changed all of the materials and connections to be more stable and neat. Instead of cardboard, we used a plastic pulley wheel. For the backing, we formerly had a cardboard box holding things up, but for the final version, we went with wood instead, as it is sturdier, looks nicer, and better fits the theme. Since it is now wood instead of cardboard, we connected the dowel by drilling a hole exactly the necessary size and shape instead of using various makeshift gluing and cardboard pieces. This allowed for a neater look and more efficacious design. We also changed our lever design to be sturdier and more reliable, with a stronger connection to the wooden block underneath and a greater width. Aside from actual design components, we changed our methods in an attempt to develop a machine that was neater and more precise - this was achieved through using laser cuts, less damaged materials, measuring and planning things more thoroughly, and having FYELIC employees assist us when necessary. Other than that, all alterations were in the interest of more closely fitting the theme, such as painting, adding cotton balls to resemble snow, and decorating a wooden piece to look like kitchen cabinets.

Autocad layout:

Reflection:

We are satisfied with the reliability of our portion of the machine. As the only group during the dry-run that did not have any interference necessary for all steps to be completed, we were confident in how repeatable our results were, and did not feel a need to rush to change things last minute. However, we attribute this to our simplistic design relative to other groups. We think it may have been more engaging to attempt a more ambitious machine with a longer run-time. Although our decision to prioritize repeatability, reliability, and meeting all constraints led to better results on paper, we cannot help but wonder what else we may have been able to achieve.

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