Rube Goldberg Machine
It is a contraption that is over-engineered to complete a simple task with complicated steps.
The Party Machine
During my STEM class over the past month of September, I have been working on a Rube Goldberg Machine, with fellow classmates. We were entitled to complete it within 15 days of planning, working, and sketching with at least 10 steps, five simple machines,at least four energy transfers, and one simple task by October 1st (Rube Goldberg presentation night). The first three days were the sketching and planning days of the Rube Goldberg, in which we figured out everything it needed to have and where to put all the steps to complete the simple task we orginally choose, which was to release balloons and confetti. During the nine working days we realized that some of our ideas could not work, for example the confetti was to much work for our limited time, so we scratched that out in our new design and worked from there( see slideshow at bottom). We also completed our machine within these working day, with of course some extra time in lunch
. Our machine starts with us pulling up a "present" connected to a pulley,when the "present" lifts up it reveals a small toy car which then rolls down the ramp, later falling into a party hat connected to another pulley. That same pulley is connected to a wedge which is pulled up when the car falls into the party hat. From there, a ball gets released and it rolls down a yellow ramp and falls onto a lever which goes down because of the ball's weight. It, then, rolls down a green ramp into a " birthday cake" ( motorized wheel and axle) spins around then knocks a small metal ball down a paper tube. When the ball emerges from the tube, it then hits the dominoes which knocks down the weight causing it to fall on a wheel and axle causing that to spin. After the axle spins, it drops the a clear marble onto a ramp which then causes the marble to fall down and hit a wooden block causing the balloons to release( see above). To go along with the machine we also spent the last 3 days on our presentations, in which we have our calculated physics in each step, the steps themselves, our new and old schematics, energy transfers, and our progress log.
. Our machine starts with us pulling up a "present" connected to a pulley,when the "present" lifts up it reveals a small toy car which then rolls down the ramp, later falling into a party hat connected to another pulley. That same pulley is connected to a wedge which is pulled up when the car falls into the party hat. From there, a ball gets released and it rolls down a yellow ramp and falls onto a lever which goes down because of the ball's weight. It, then, rolls down a green ramp into a " birthday cake" ( motorized wheel and axle) spins around then knocks a small metal ball down a paper tube. When the ball emerges from the tube, it then hits the dominoes which knocks down the weight causing it to fall on a wheel and axle causing that to spin. After the axle spins, it drops the a clear marble onto a ramp which then causes the marble to fall down and hit a wooden block causing the balloons to release( see above). To go along with the machine we also spent the last 3 days on our presentations, in which we have our calculated physics in each step, the steps themselves, our new and old schematics, energy transfers, and our progress log.
Concepts and How To Calculate Them:
Step 1: Present is pulled up by using a pulley. The pulley has a mechanical advantage of 1.Mechanical advantage is how much easier the tool makes something or the difference in distance needed to push using the tool. It is found by using the equation force without machine divided by force with machine, or distance without machine divided by distance with machine. It doesn't have units .
Step 2: Car rolls down orange ramp. It has a Mechanical advantage of 8.5 and it accelerates at 1.2 meters per second squared as it rolls down. Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity, and It is calculated by taking change in velocity and dividing it by change in time. It is measured in m/s^2.
Step 3:Car drops into birthday hat activating the pulley to pull a ramp up. The pulley has a Mechanical advantage of 1 and when the car drops into the party hat it exerts the force of 0.27 N. Force is the push or pull on a object which causes change in motion. The equation to find force is mass times acceleration and it is measured in Newtons ( KGM/s^2)
Step 4: Multi-colored bouncy ball runs down the orange ramp. The ramp has an Mechanical Advantage of 5.5 and as the ball rolls down the ramp, it has the acceleration of 1.8 m/s^2.
Step 5: Bouncy ball hits the lever pushing it down. When the ball hits the lever, it exerts a force of 0.59N.
Step 6: Bouncy ball runs down runs down green ramp. The ramp has a mechanical advantage of 13.2 and the acceleration of the ball as it rolls down is 0.74 m/s^2. The ball rolling down the ramp, also had a kinetic energy of 0.033J. Kinetic energy is energy due to motion. The equation to find kinetic energy is 1/2 of Mass times velocity squared (1/2mv^2) and it is measured in Newtons.
Step 7: Bouncy ball rolls around birthday cake wheel. During the first 10 spins, the birthday cake wheel has an average velocity of 2.0 m/s.
Step 8: Bouncy ball hits steel ball. The kinetic energy of the bouncy ball which is 1.2J transfers to a steel ball when they collide.
Step 9: Steel ball drops down a paper pipe. The potential energy of the steel ball before it falls through the pipe is 0.03J. Potential energy is the energy an object has due to its height or position in a gravitational pull. It is calculated by mass times gravity times height (mgh) and its units of measure is Joules.
Step 10: Steel ball rolls down short ramp. The ramp has a mechanical advantage of 3.2, and as the ball rolls down,it has an acceleration of 3.06m/s^2.
Step 11: Steel ball ball hits dominoes, knocking them over. When the steel ball hits the dominoes, it exerts a force of 0.087N on the dominoes.
Step 12: The dominoes fall over and knock down a weight. It hits it at enough of an angle that the horizontal portion of the force is enough to push the weight off the ledge..
Step 13: The weight falls onto the wheel and makes it spin. The weight exerts the force of 0.49N onto the spinning wheel, giving it the push it needs to rotate.
Step 14: The clear marble on the spinning wheel falls off the wheel and falls down the purple incline plane. The mechanical advantage of the ramp is 3.0 and when the ball runs down the ramp it has the acceleration of 3.3 m/s^2.
Step 15: The clear marble hits the yellow wood block and knocks it over by hitting the top of it. The ball exerts a force of 0.01N onto the block.
Step 16: balloons are realeased!
(See more on slide show and see calculations)
Other concepts:
Speed: It is the rate of covered distance without direction, and it is consistent. It is calculated by distance divided by time or d/t and it has the units of meters per seconds (m/sec).
Mass: The amount of matter in an object. It is calculated by weighing it, and it's units in measure are in kilograms. The weight has mass.
Work: The amount of energy put into something. It is calculated by force times distance ( FxD) and it units in measure are Joules ( kgm^2/s^2).Work is done on the wedge when the pulley lifts up.
Impulse: It is how long and how forcefully you push something. It is calculated by force times time and it's units in measure are Newtons. This happened when the bouncy ball hit the steel ball ,when it was on the motorized wheel and axle
Step 2: Car rolls down orange ramp. It has a Mechanical advantage of 8.5 and it accelerates at 1.2 meters per second squared as it rolls down. Acceleration is the rate of change of velocity, and It is calculated by taking change in velocity and dividing it by change in time. It is measured in m/s^2.
Step 3:Car drops into birthday hat activating the pulley to pull a ramp up. The pulley has a Mechanical advantage of 1 and when the car drops into the party hat it exerts the force of 0.27 N. Force is the push or pull on a object which causes change in motion. The equation to find force is mass times acceleration and it is measured in Newtons ( KGM/s^2)
Step 4: Multi-colored bouncy ball runs down the orange ramp. The ramp has an Mechanical Advantage of 5.5 and as the ball rolls down the ramp, it has the acceleration of 1.8 m/s^2.
Step 5: Bouncy ball hits the lever pushing it down. When the ball hits the lever, it exerts a force of 0.59N.
Step 6: Bouncy ball runs down runs down green ramp. The ramp has a mechanical advantage of 13.2 and the acceleration of the ball as it rolls down is 0.74 m/s^2. The ball rolling down the ramp, also had a kinetic energy of 0.033J. Kinetic energy is energy due to motion. The equation to find kinetic energy is 1/2 of Mass times velocity squared (1/2mv^2) and it is measured in Newtons.
Step 7: Bouncy ball rolls around birthday cake wheel. During the first 10 spins, the birthday cake wheel has an average velocity of 2.0 m/s.
Step 8: Bouncy ball hits steel ball. The kinetic energy of the bouncy ball which is 1.2J transfers to a steel ball when they collide.
Step 9: Steel ball drops down a paper pipe. The potential energy of the steel ball before it falls through the pipe is 0.03J. Potential energy is the energy an object has due to its height or position in a gravitational pull. It is calculated by mass times gravity times height (mgh) and its units of measure is Joules.
Step 10: Steel ball rolls down short ramp. The ramp has a mechanical advantage of 3.2, and as the ball rolls down,it has an acceleration of 3.06m/s^2.
Step 11: Steel ball ball hits dominoes, knocking them over. When the steel ball hits the dominoes, it exerts a force of 0.087N on the dominoes.
Step 12: The dominoes fall over and knock down a weight. It hits it at enough of an angle that the horizontal portion of the force is enough to push the weight off the ledge..
Step 13: The weight falls onto the wheel and makes it spin. The weight exerts the force of 0.49N onto the spinning wheel, giving it the push it needs to rotate.
Step 14: The clear marble on the spinning wheel falls off the wheel and falls down the purple incline plane. The mechanical advantage of the ramp is 3.0 and when the ball runs down the ramp it has the acceleration of 3.3 m/s^2.
Step 15: The clear marble hits the yellow wood block and knocks it over by hitting the top of it. The ball exerts a force of 0.01N onto the block.
Step 16: balloons are realeased!
(See more on slide show and see calculations)
Other concepts:
Speed: It is the rate of covered distance without direction, and it is consistent. It is calculated by distance divided by time or d/t and it has the units of meters per seconds (m/sec).
Mass: The amount of matter in an object. It is calculated by weighing it, and it's units in measure are in kilograms. The weight has mass.
Work: The amount of energy put into something. It is calculated by force times distance ( FxD) and it units in measure are Joules ( kgm^2/s^2).Work is done on the wedge when the pulley lifts up.
Impulse: It is how long and how forcefully you push something. It is calculated by force times time and it's units in measure are Newtons. This happened when the bouncy ball hit the steel ball ,when it was on the motorized wheel and axle
Reflections:
Looking back at the Rube Goldberg project now, I can see we accomplished a lot with the time given to us. We worked together as a team, for example,when we first designed the Rube Goldberg machine we came together and all contributed ideas amongst ourselves. Also when one person was drilling pieces onto our Rube Goldberg project, another one holding the pieces up for them to drill, while the others were finding the next pieces to drill. Not everything was perfect though, we struggled with getting everything done with the time we were given. We focused to much on the little details like painting it or decorating the machines and ramps that were on it. Even with all the school lunches we spend with the machine it only worked of 75% of the time and not 100%.Next time, I will try to plan on each task we should finish everyday and how we will do it instead of how nice our project looks.
Some skills I have acquired from building this project are how to use power tools correctly. At first I had know idea how to use a drill, I didn't even know there were different drill bits, but throughout our building days I learned how to drill holes and drill in screws. I, even learned how to using an electric saw. Another thing I learned was from myself. Usually, when I am in groups there are not many people who try or even care, so usually I do all the work and barely communicate with the others. In stem,though, almost everyone cares about their work and it's amazing, but I was not used to communicating with other people in a group that much, so I had to learn. Eventually, I communicated what I was going to do and asked if there was any suggestions. An example is when I was building the motorized wheel my idea was to connect sides to it, but then once I told my group members they suggested to make the sides not touching, so it wouldn't spin with the wheel. If I had not communicated about that, the ball rolling around in the wheel could have spun off of it anywhere.
Some things that I could have done better, and that I will continue working on are staying a bit more focused, and challenging myself more. Sometimes during the project I would go over to my friends project and talk to her and about her project instead of doing something for our project. Next time I will try to limit my talking time with her and focus more on the project. Also in this project I worked on the motorized wheel and the construction of the base for it, that kept it upright.. Unfortunately the base and wheel were not perfect, and I knew that. It sometimes faltered and didn't work, but if I had challenged myself more to get it perfect, I could have reduced the errors in the Rube Goldberg project. When the time comes again that a design is faulty in my project, instead of letting it go, I will strive to make it as realible as I can, even if I have to come after school to do it. Overall this project was a great experience where I learned things about myself and the science concepts.
Some skills I have acquired from building this project are how to use power tools correctly. At first I had know idea how to use a drill, I didn't even know there were different drill bits, but throughout our building days I learned how to drill holes and drill in screws. I, even learned how to using an electric saw. Another thing I learned was from myself. Usually, when I am in groups there are not many people who try or even care, so usually I do all the work and barely communicate with the others. In stem,though, almost everyone cares about their work and it's amazing, but I was not used to communicating with other people in a group that much, so I had to learn. Eventually, I communicated what I was going to do and asked if there was any suggestions. An example is when I was building the motorized wheel my idea was to connect sides to it, but then once I told my group members they suggested to make the sides not touching, so it wouldn't spin with the wheel. If I had not communicated about that, the ball rolling around in the wheel could have spun off of it anywhere.
Some things that I could have done better, and that I will continue working on are staying a bit more focused, and challenging myself more. Sometimes during the project I would go over to my friends project and talk to her and about her project instead of doing something for our project. Next time I will try to limit my talking time with her and focus more on the project. Also in this project I worked on the motorized wheel and the construction of the base for it, that kept it upright.. Unfortunately the base and wheel were not perfect, and I knew that. It sometimes faltered and didn't work, but if I had challenged myself more to get it perfect, I could have reduced the errors in the Rube Goldberg project. When the time comes again that a design is faulty in my project, instead of letting it go, I will strive to make it as realible as I can, even if I have to come after school to do it. Overall this project was a great experience where I learned things about myself and the science concepts.