Theme:
Hollywood
What is a Rube Goldberg Machine?
A Rube Goldberg machine is a series of complicated steps all devoted to accomplishing a simple task that could be done just as easily without the machine and all the steps. The purpose of the machine can vary from machine to machine, depending on the level of complexity that the builders are striving for (also budget can play a role in this too). The ending task is usually based off of the theme of the machine and the rest of the steps fall in line from there. The more steps the machine has the more over complicated it becomes. Ours is a very simple machine which only included 10 steps and 5 simple machines.
How long did it take?
The project in total took 9 days to build, and before that 3 days of planning. To keep track of our work and how much we accomplished we made a construction log. Below is our construction log, located for your viewing.
Concepts
- Velocity: Rate of covered distance in a direction
- Acceleration: Rate of change of velocity, how much is it speeding up/slowing down
- Force: push or pull on an object
- Potential Energy: Energy an object has due to its position at a height or in a gravitational field
- Kinetic Energy: energy due to motion
- Mechanical Advantage: how much further (distance) you have to push due to using a tool
- Work: the amount of energy put into something
10 Steps
- For our first step we used a wedge to hold a ball in place. When the wedge was removed the ball began to roll down a ramp
- The ball rolled down the ramp and landed in a cup with some weights and lowered the wheel and axle
- The wheel and axle lowered and turned releasing a tiny marble in a cart
- The tiny marble then proceeds to roll down another ramp and land in a funnel
- The funnel connects to the screw and rolls down the screw and comes out the end
- After coming out of the screw it proceeds to roll down yet another ramp and fall off of the end.
- After falling off the end of the ramp the ball proceeds to fall through a hole on the ramp below, while falling th ball knocks over a set of "surf boards"
- While the surfboards topple over one another they proceed to knock over a "boat" which falls into the "ocean"
- The ball falls through the whole and land on one side of a lever which in turn knocks another lever upward
- After the lever is knocked upward on one end, the force on one side of lever becomes greater causing the side to lift upwards and knock another tiny marble and a mass into our basketball hoop scoring the final point for the LA clippers game.
Reflection
The project was certainly interesting and had it's ups and downs. I enjoyed getting to do some hands on learning and getting to put my knowledge to good use by applying it to the calculations for the Rube Goldberg Machine. I got to work with a bunch of awesome people, who came together with me to create an awesome project. I learned that I'm braver with sharp objects than I thought I was. I followed the rules and didn't hurt myself or anyone around me with the tools. I branched out and used the saw a couple times to work on the wooden surfboards.
I'm super happy with how it turned out although I wish we had planned it out a little better and we had put a little more simplicity into our original plan. Another thing that could have gone better is proper time management, I certainly wish that we and organized our productivity output a little bit better as well. One thing I could have done better is been more hands on with the tools instead of being scared of them because I was worried that I would hurt myself and others around me. I wish I had stepped out of my comfort zone a little bit more and challenged myself to be more open about sharing my ideas and working with the power tools and taking charge. In the future I plan to take lead on my projects more and take charge by offering more ideas and being a more active part of the group.
I'm super happy with how it turned out although I wish we had planned it out a little better and we had put a little more simplicity into our original plan. Another thing that could have gone better is proper time management, I certainly wish that we and organized our productivity output a little bit better as well. One thing I could have done better is been more hands on with the tools instead of being scared of them because I was worried that I would hurt myself and others around me. I wish I had stepped out of my comfort zone a little bit more and challenged myself to be more open about sharing my ideas and working with the power tools and taking charge. In the future I plan to take lead on my projects more and take charge by offering more ideas and being a more active part of the group.
Special Thanks to My Awesome Group Members:
Nick Lloyd: nicholaslloydsanmarinstem.weebly.com/
Alex Lazoda: alexlozadasanmarin.weebly.com/
Lucy Mogan: lucymogansanmarin.weebly.com/
You guys were so awesome to be in a group with and super hard working! Keep up the great work in your future groups!
Alex Lazoda: alexlozadasanmarin.weebly.com/
Lucy Mogan: lucymogansanmarin.weebly.com/
You guys were so awesome to be in a group with and super hard working! Keep up the great work in your future groups!