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While traditional Rube-Goldberg Machines do not include electronic elements, half of Cornerstone 1, our first semester engineering course, is devoted to coding in python and building circuits with a Raspberry Pi Pico; therefore, electronics are a required component in our Rube Goldberg Machine.
Circuit 1:
Circuit 1:
Our first circuit consisted of a photoresister, a seven segment display, a neopixel ring and a servo motor. The intent was that when the sticky note accordion fell, it would cover a photoresister, causing the readings to surpass a preset threshold. This would then trigger a countdown from the neopixel ring (red, then yellow, then green) and the seven segment display (3, 2, 1) before triggering the servo motor to change angles to bump into a roll of tape and send it rolling down a ramp. The image above shows an early version of our wiring while we were testing the code and circuit and the video to the right is when the circuit was implemented.
IMG_9108.MOVCircuit 2:
Circuit 2:
IMG_0614.movOur second circuit was slightly less complicated than the first and involved a limit switch (works similarly to a button) and a servo motor. The objective of this circuit was that the roll of tape would click the limit switch and trigger the servo motor. The servo motor would move one direction to knock over a book onto a ramp and then in the opposite direction to release a lever, and allow a ball to fall down a ramp. The video on the left was when we were prototyping this circuit and code.
The greatest challenge when it came to implementing the electronics was the wiring. We threaded all of our wires through our backboard in order to reach the electronic components, which needed to be redone every time we set the RGM up. After awhile, though, it became one of our most consistent aspects of the RGM, and something we didn't need to worry about.
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