Rube Goldberg Project

Tech:
CLICK HERE

 Narrative:

Dominoes falling, mouse traps snapping, and pulleys jumping.  The marble whips through a corner going around the track.  One thing leads to another until it stops.  The end product might have been accomplished several easier ways, but this was no simple machine.  This was a Rube Goldberg machine.  Abbie and I built a Rube Goldberg that we edited and improved to turn our jumbled up looking mess,  into a well-working envelope closer.

Before getting the machine to what it was in our video, we had to find what we needed to incorporate.  We found that we had to use six simple machines.  The first was a screw, which meant that we had to have something turn multiple times.  The second was a pulley, which means that we had to lift or lower something using something else's weight.  The third was a wheel and axel, which is just a rod with a  wheel on it.  The fourth was a incline plane, which is a board facing upward. The fifth was a wedge and wedges are slanted blocks facing either upward or downward.  The last was a lever, which is basically a teeter-totter.  Finally, we incorporated an extra simple machine, a spring.

Once we found ways to incorporate ways to incorporate every simple machine, we decided it was time to build the whole Rube Goldberg. As we started building we decided that the machine would turn on a sink to fill a glass of water.  Next we found that there was no object we could use that was heavy enough to lift up the handle.  Finally, the  two of us decided to start completely over.

It was Abbie's original idea to start over and to make the frame of the new Rube Goldberg.  After the draft was completed, I helped edit out flaws and fix parts that were breaking.  Doing this made the machine more consistent.  After a while, we agreed that it was time to video tape because we thought that it was working perfectly.  We soon realized that one of the turns wasn't working.  Then we fixed that problem and tried video taping again.  The second try, the whole thing worked almost perfectly, but we decided to try again and make it work as perfect as we could.  Finally, we recorded a run that was, in my words, perfect.

Creating this was no simple task, but we managed to use six simple machines to build a consistent, well-made Rube Goldberg envelope closer. 

Self Reflection:

I think that I worked really hard on this project and got a lot done.  Abbie and I completed an entire Rube Goldberg in only three weeks.  We stayed on task when we worked and completed tasks outside of school.  Both of us found a lot on information about friction, mechanical advantage, and more.  Overall, I think that the only thing we needed to work on was time management.

Goals:

1. Use more contacts
2. Follow task list better

Sources:

http://www.uwsp.edu/cnr/wcee/keep/Mod1/Rules/EnTransfer.htm

http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0210120/Mechanical%20Advantage.html

http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0210120/Answer%20to%20MA.html

http://www.wisegeek.com/what-is-mechanical-energy.htm

http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0210120/Answer%20to%20MA.html

http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0210120/Mechanical%20Advantage.html