My Group's Rube Goldberg Machine - The Exceedingly Pointless Pencil Dispencer
My group started out visualizing a difficult idea of a pencil being dispensed through a series of actions that would make the machine that dispensed it do 500%+ more work than was needed. We agreed that this would be a wonderful task to undertake because this simple action could be taken and turned into the most inefficient machine we could think of. We started out with a base design (shown below).
After taking into consideration the near impossible steps which we designed into our original machine, we scaled back a little bit to fit this dimension's physical boundaries. Instead of having a small toy roller coaster move at a speed not possible to give in such a small area of space, we put our attention on something a little bit more reliable...electricity. An electric toy train would be the perfect moving item to dispense out pencil, we thought. After adding this highly reliable step to the base of our board (along with all of the rest) we asked ourselves the universal question of creativity...whats next? We came together and brainstormed ideas that came to be some of the most interesting additions to our project. We added a status bar and light to the end of our project that would show the status of the pencil dispenser's journey through the steps without having to look at the internal structure of the machine itself. Even though we added these simple electronic steps the machine itself still wondered to amaze us.
It all starts with the pulling of a lever. After that lever releases a wedge, a quarter rolls down an inclined plane into a pulley system with a mechanical advantage of 1 (mechanical advantage is how easy a machine makes something compared to the original task) . That pulley system then transfers its weight onto a lever. Then that lever hits another lever that continues to tilt to an incline and roll a marble down into another lever that was made to turn the marble's force the opposite direction. Then that lever sends it down another inclined plane into a golf ball sending the golf ball off at a velocity of 0.5 m/s. Then that golf ball hits a wheel and axle that completes an electronic circuit that sends the train speeding down the track at 0.4 m/s. Along the way it transfers some energy into a lever that turns the status bar from red to green and pushes out a brand new pencil.
It was tough getting a machine like my group's to work. It goes by so fast that everything has to be precise and accurate down to the the sanded divots in the levers. My group did a fairly good job of communicating these problems to each other. We had no issues with lack of participation and our group worked solidly together. We also all had something to teach each other. I now walk away from this project with the skills of woodworking, soldering, and modeling (toy). I feel as though this project was a great experience for me and I learned a lot. I will also miss working with my group. This project appeared successful and educational and I cannot wait to make our next one.
It all starts with the pulling of a lever. After that lever releases a wedge, a quarter rolls down an inclined plane into a pulley system with a mechanical advantage of 1 (mechanical advantage is how easy a machine makes something compared to the original task) . That pulley system then transfers its weight onto a lever. Then that lever hits another lever that continues to tilt to an incline and roll a marble down into another lever that was made to turn the marble's force the opposite direction. Then that lever sends it down another inclined plane into a golf ball sending the golf ball off at a velocity of 0.5 m/s. Then that golf ball hits a wheel and axle that completes an electronic circuit that sends the train speeding down the track at 0.4 m/s. Along the way it transfers some energy into a lever that turns the status bar from red to green and pushes out a brand new pencil.
It was tough getting a machine like my group's to work. It goes by so fast that everything has to be precise and accurate down to the the sanded divots in the levers. My group did a fairly good job of communicating these problems to each other. We had no issues with lack of participation and our group worked solidly together. We also all had something to teach each other. I now walk away from this project with the skills of woodworking, soldering, and modeling (toy). I feel as though this project was a great experience for me and I learned a lot. I will also miss working with my group. This project appeared successful and educational and I cannot wait to make our next one.
Here are a few of the concepts we learned while doing this project:
Mechanical Advantage: Mechanical advantage describes the efficiency of a machine. If a machine has a mechanical advantage of 3 then the work it produces is 3 times as much as you put in it. If you exerted 300N of force on a machine with a mechanical advantage of 3 then you would be able to lift with a force of 900N.
Force: Force is an influence on an object that can alter its physical appearance and/or movement and location. If I put x amount of force on a 50kg ball it would either roll, stay put and/or get crushed or dented. Force is what keeps everything moving and is the center of physics.
Acceleration: Acceleration is the rate of how fast an object is going compared with time. The most common example of this is mph. This shows your acceleration by showing the distance you are going (m[miles]) compared to (p[per]) the amount of time it takes to achieve that distance (h[hours]).
Work: Work is when an object is displaced from its original position by a force. A force is not doing work if the object it is acting upon is not moving. Work is measure in Joules(J).
Mechanical Advantage: Mechanical advantage describes the efficiency of a machine. If a machine has a mechanical advantage of 3 then the work it produces is 3 times as much as you put in it. If you exerted 300N of force on a machine with a mechanical advantage of 3 then you would be able to lift with a force of 900N.
Force: Force is an influence on an object that can alter its physical appearance and/or movement and location. If I put x amount of force on a 50kg ball it would either roll, stay put and/or get crushed or dented. Force is what keeps everything moving and is the center of physics.
Acceleration: Acceleration is the rate of how fast an object is going compared with time. The most common example of this is mph. This shows your acceleration by showing the distance you are going (m[miles]) compared to (p[per]) the amount of time it takes to achieve that distance (h[hours]).
Work: Work is when an object is displaced from its original position by a force. A force is not doing work if the object it is acting upon is not moving. Work is measure in Joules(J).
Reuben Garrett Lucius "Rube" Goldberg (July 4, 1883 – December 7, 1970) was an American cartoonist, sculptor, author, engineer and inventor.
Similar to Heath Robinson devices in the UK, he is best known for a series of popular cartoons depicting complex gadgets that perform simple tasks in indirect, convoluted ways. Goldberg received many honors in his lifetime, including a Pulitzer Prize for his political cartooning in 1948 and the Banshees' Silver Lady Award 1959.[1]
Goldberg was a founding member and the first president of the National Cartoonists Society,[2] and he is the namesake of the Reuben Award, which the organization awards to the Cartoonist of the Year. He is the inspiration for various international competitions, known as Rube Goldberg Machine Contests, which challenge participants to make a complex machine to perform a simple task.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rube_goldberg)
Similar to Heath Robinson devices in the UK, he is best known for a series of popular cartoons depicting complex gadgets that perform simple tasks in indirect, convoluted ways. Goldberg received many honors in his lifetime, including a Pulitzer Prize for his political cartooning in 1948 and the Banshees' Silver Lady Award 1959.[1]
Goldberg was a founding member and the first president of the National Cartoonists Society,[2] and he is the namesake of the Reuben Award, which the organization awards to the Cartoonist of the Year. He is the inspiration for various international competitions, known as Rube Goldberg Machine Contests, which challenge participants to make a complex machine to perform a simple task.
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rube_goldberg)