Rube Goldberg Machine
The purpose of the Rube Goldberg project was to do a relatively simple task in an overly complex way, and by building this we learned about many different forces and how they work. Those forces include gravity, velocity, kinetic energy, potential energy. We started this project by thinking of what task we could complete, and the ten steps we would have to carry out that task. Another thing we needed to know was what five simple machines we would have in the project. Our first idea was to pour milk and cereal into a bowl, so we drew out the first blueprint here
The purpose of the Rube Goldberg project was to do a relatively simple task in an overly complex way, and by building this we learned about many different forces and how they work. Those forces include gravity, velocity, kinetic energy, potential energy. We started this project by thinking of what task we could complete, and the ten steps we would have to carry out that task. Another thing we needed to know was what five simple machines we would have in the project. Our first idea was to pour milk and cereal into a bowl, so we drew out the first blueprint here
blueprint.jpg | |
File Size: | 42 kb |
File Type: | jpg |
The first thing we started building was a ramp with a golf ball that would fall onto a lever with a mechanical advantage of about 2.7. This lever launches a marble. Then we built a simple funnel, which funnels the marble into a tube. After that we built a pulley system. When the marble falls into the cup the cup on the other side launches up hitting a zip line This zip line slides down a string and hits a row of dominoes that knock each other over. These dominoes hit a toy car that rolls down an inclined plane and hits another domino which hits some size increasing wooden dominoes. We wanted them to knock milk and cereal into a bowl, but we figured that it would be very messy to clean up the milk, and it might spoil. So we scrapped the idea and decided to take a slightly different approach by pouring dog food into a bowl. So we had the size increasing dominoes knock a cup filled with dog food spilling over into a bowl.
There are some ideas that we decided to get rid of due to complexity, or time. For example we had an idea to have the dominoes hit a pole with a weight on a string wrapped around it, so that when it was hit the weight would swing around, and hit another set of dominoes. We didn't have enough room, and it was very unpredictable,so we got rid of it.
In the end we added a wheel and axle attached to a wedge that would release the golf ball. This last step seemed to complete our design.
There are some ideas that we decided to get rid of due to complexity, or time. For example we had an idea to have the dominoes hit a pole with a weight on a string wrapped around it, so that when it was hit the weight would swing around, and hit another set of dominoes. We didn't have enough room, and it was very unpredictable,so we got rid of it.
In the end we added a wheel and axle attached to a wedge that would release the golf ball. This last step seemed to complete our design.
The powerpoint presentation of the project, with the math of the steps, and more details.
Afterthoughts
The Rube Goldberg project was an amazing experience, but we had some things we could have improved upon. For example, we didn't work very quickly during the first half of the project building, so we really had to work hard in the last part. Because of this we didn't have enough time to add extra details such as more paint, or cleaning up the project and making it look nicer. We also could have perfected our lever a little bit more, so that it was more consistent. Despite these setbacks there were some positive things we did. For example, we were very open to the idea that we might have to get rid of steps or even change the end goal. We also worked together very well, and didn't argue too much about anything. This made for a great working expierince and a successful
The Rube Goldberg project was an amazing experience, but we had some things we could have improved upon. For example, we didn't work very quickly during the first half of the project building, so we really had to work hard in the last part. Because of this we didn't have enough time to add extra details such as more paint, or cleaning up the project and making it look nicer. We also could have perfected our lever a little bit more, so that it was more consistent. Despite these setbacks there were some positive things we did. For example, we were very open to the idea that we might have to get rid of steps or even change the end goal. We also worked together very well, and didn't argue too much about anything. This made for a great working expierince and a successful