Rube Goldberg Machines |
WHAT IS A RUBE GOLDBERG MACHINE?
A Rube Goldberg machine is all about creating an invention that uses a chain reaction in order to complete a simple task in a very complicated manner. Many of Goldberg's ideas were used in movies and TV shows for the comedic effect of creating such madness for one simple task, such as the breakfast machine on television's 'Pee Wee's Playhouse'. You may have seen movies such as 'Chitty Chitty Bang Bang' and 'Diving into the Money Pit',which have also featured Goldberg's idea. Now that you know what it is, let me tell you about my personal experience.
WHAT DID WE DO?
This past month, 9th grade STEM Marin built Rube Goldberg machines. We all worked in groups of four, and us four worked together for an entire month. We came across many difficulties and obstacles, but we made sure to overcome them. After brainstorming all ideas for our machine, we came up with our overall theme, which was Halloween. We thought it was a good idea because our final presentation was to be on October third, which would be close(ish) to Halloween. We came across many obstacles throughout our journey and the building was a long process, but we did it. We accomplished our overall goal together.
PLANNING
I felt that I excelled in a couple things even more than others. One of those things was the planning. For me, it was extremely fun to use my imagination and come up with a dream and then see that dream come true. I greatly enjoyed drawing out plans and seeing if they would work. Seeing something go from brain to paper to machine truly is magical.
OBSTACLES
For my group, working as a team was our biggest struggle. Some of the time, our biggest goal was to get work done, and that didn't always include everyone. There would be times when everyone would be focused on one thing, and it would get quite overwhelming. Then there would be other times where two people would be focused on different things, and two people wouldn't even have a job to accomplish. Towards the end of our project, we worked out the kinks in our teamwork skills, but it was definitely a relevant struggle for us. As for myself, I tend to be a pretty reserved person, which causes me to not speak up and ask for what I want to work on. This sometimes leaves me with either no job or too much to do. Teamwork will most definitely be a major concept for me to work on in the future.
BUILDING
Building and piecing together our plan was definitely one of the hardest parts. In our minds, things don’t work exactly how they would in real life. For example, one of our steps was to cut off the “head” of an action figure with a wedge that was designed to look like an axe. What we didn’t consider, though, was that there wasn’t a way for the axe to fall. I think we were relying on magic or something! Anyways, we worked around it, and as you will see in the video, we connected it to a pulley system.
DECORATING
This step was for sure one of my favorites. It was extremely fun for me to explore my creativity and see what I could do to to bring the machine to one cohesive theme. My goal was to make it spooky, so I used some Halloween decorations from my house and went to town. We painted certain elements black so that they could pop against the background. I also brought in a giant fake spider and cotton webs. I spread multiple webs across the board and entangled the ugly spider in one of them. Last but not least, the minor details. This consisted of the “dominoes” and then the starting step, our witches’ broom. First off, dominoes would have seemed out of place on our board so I decorated each one separately to look like tombstones. To do that, I painted each one black and lightly sprinkled white paint over them to give them texture. Then I very carefully painted in the letters “R.I.P” with white paint. For the broom, I took an ordinary twig from outside and attached paint brush bristles. To do so, I used a bit of twine and tied the cut-off bristles of a black paint brush to the end.
PLANNING
I felt that I excelled in a couple things even more than others. One of those things was the planning. For me, it was extremely fun to use my imagination and come up with a dream and then see that dream come true. I greatly enjoyed drawing out plans and seeing if they would work. Seeing something go from brain to paper to machine truly is magical.
OBSTACLES
For my group, working as a team was our biggest struggle. Some of the time, our biggest goal was to get work done, and that didn't always include everyone. There would be times when everyone would be focused on one thing, and it would get quite overwhelming. Then there would be other times where two people would be focused on different things, and two people wouldn't even have a job to accomplish. Towards the end of our project, we worked out the kinks in our teamwork skills, but it was definitely a relevant struggle for us. As for myself, I tend to be a pretty reserved person, which causes me to not speak up and ask for what I want to work on. This sometimes leaves me with either no job or too much to do. Teamwork will most definitely be a major concept for me to work on in the future.
BUILDING
Building and piecing together our plan was definitely one of the hardest parts. In our minds, things don’t work exactly how they would in real life. For example, one of our steps was to cut off the “head” of an action figure with a wedge that was designed to look like an axe. What we didn’t consider, though, was that there wasn’t a way for the axe to fall. I think we were relying on magic or something! Anyways, we worked around it, and as you will see in the video, we connected it to a pulley system.
DECORATING
This step was for sure one of my favorites. It was extremely fun for me to explore my creativity and see what I could do to to bring the machine to one cohesive theme. My goal was to make it spooky, so I used some Halloween decorations from my house and went to town. We painted certain elements black so that they could pop against the background. I also brought in a giant fake spider and cotton webs. I spread multiple webs across the board and entangled the ugly spider in one of them. Last but not least, the minor details. This consisted of the “dominoes” and then the starting step, our witches’ broom. First off, dominoes would have seemed out of place on our board so I decorated each one separately to look like tombstones. To do that, I painted each one black and lightly sprinkled white paint over them to give them texture. Then I very carefully painted in the letters “R.I.P” with white paint. For the broom, I took an ordinary twig from outside and attached paint brush bristles. To do so, I used a bit of twine and tied the cut-off bristles of a black paint brush to the end.
Our presentation:
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PRESENTATION
After actually building the machine, we had to make a presentation to share our new masterpiece with others. As you can see above, we decided on making a slideshow to present what we did. We had the presentation playing in that background while we summarized it and gave examples with the actual machine. We presented in front of judges of all kinds. There were senior STEM students, trained engineers, and professional scientists. If I'm being honest, it was pretty darn nerve-wracking. I tend to get stage-fright, and so during this experience I learned how to cope with that as well. Anyways, we made the presentation above and included the many factors shown within it. |
Construction Log:
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CONSTRUCTION LOG
As shown to the right, my team and I made a construction log during our building process. We found it extremely important to stay organized when making a Rube Goldberg machine. To do so, we kept record of what we did each day. By planning out what we were gonna do before that day started, it gave us an outline of what we needed to do and the amount of time in which we needed to do it. This kept us from going off track, and kept us from losing track of time. Many groups felt stressed and short on time by the last week, but by managing our time wisely, we were relaxed and ready to present. |
Physics of the machine:
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PHYSICS OF THE MACHINE
After building the machine, I was in charge of calculating the physics and forces of the machine. As you can see above, there are two versions of the physics that I calculated. One version (left) was the raw information that we gave to the judges. The other version (right) was the summarized, more understandable information that I used to present with. The calculating process was super long, but when I finally completed the calculations, I felt a rush of relief and satisfaction with my work that is overall hard to describe.
TO BETTER UNDERSTAND:
Here are some important concepts and information that will help you to understand what I was calculating.
Velocity- The rate of covered distance in a certain direction.The equation for velocity is V=d/t, and I used this when calculating how fast the marble was rolling.
Force- The push or pull on an object. Force is measured in Newtons (N) , and it causes change in motion. The equation for force is F=MA, and I used this to calculate what one thing hit another. For example, when the broomstick hit the first domino.
Time/Distance- Time is the progress of events, and distance is how far something has traveled. There is no specific equation for these things, but they were the main tools that I used to calculate the other concepts.
Acceleration- The rate of change in velocity, or in more understandable terms, speeding up/slowing down. The equation for acceleration is the change in velocity divided by the change in time, or a=v/t.
Acceleration Due to Gravity- Whenever something is accelerating towards the earth, it falls at 9.8 m/s^2. This only applies to falling objects.
Mass- The amount of matter in an object. Mass is another tool used in calculating, so it doesn't have a specific equation. Another way to classify mass would be weight.
Potential Energy- The energy that an object has due to its position at a height or in a gravitational field. The equation is PEg=mgh.
Kinetic Energy- Energy due to motion. The equation is KE=1/2mv^2, and it is measured in Joules.
Mechanical Advantage- There are two types of Mechanical Advantage; ideal and real. Ideal mechanical advantage is how much further you have to push when using a tool, and real mechanical advantage is how much easier a tool makes a task.
After building the machine, I was in charge of calculating the physics and forces of the machine. As you can see above, there are two versions of the physics that I calculated. One version (left) was the raw information that we gave to the judges. The other version (right) was the summarized, more understandable information that I used to present with. The calculating process was super long, but when I finally completed the calculations, I felt a rush of relief and satisfaction with my work that is overall hard to describe.
TO BETTER UNDERSTAND:
Here are some important concepts and information that will help you to understand what I was calculating.
Velocity- The rate of covered distance in a certain direction.The equation for velocity is V=d/t, and I used this when calculating how fast the marble was rolling.
Force- The push or pull on an object. Force is measured in Newtons (N) , and it causes change in motion. The equation for force is F=MA, and I used this to calculate what one thing hit another. For example, when the broomstick hit the first domino.
Time/Distance- Time is the progress of events, and distance is how far something has traveled. There is no specific equation for these things, but they were the main tools that I used to calculate the other concepts.
Acceleration- The rate of change in velocity, or in more understandable terms, speeding up/slowing down. The equation for acceleration is the change in velocity divided by the change in time, or a=v/t.
Acceleration Due to Gravity- Whenever something is accelerating towards the earth, it falls at 9.8 m/s^2. This only applies to falling objects.
Mass- The amount of matter in an object. Mass is another tool used in calculating, so it doesn't have a specific equation. Another way to classify mass would be weight.
Potential Energy- The energy that an object has due to its position at a height or in a gravitational field. The equation is PEg=mgh.
Kinetic Energy- Energy due to motion. The equation is KE=1/2mv^2, and it is measured in Joules.
Mechanical Advantage- There are two types of Mechanical Advantage; ideal and real. Ideal mechanical advantage is how much further you have to push when using a tool, and real mechanical advantage is how much easier a tool makes a task.
PRINCIPLES OF DESIGN:
Our Machine:
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The steps of the machine:
1. The broomstick hits the first domino, causing them to topple. 2.The dominoes topple. 3.Marble #1 falls into the cup. 4. Weight in the cup causes pulley to go into play. 5. Cup hits marble #2 down inclined plane. 6. Marble #2 hits lever, sends second pulled into play. 7. Pulley pulls down wedge. 8. Wedge sends marble #3 down the screw. 9. Marble #3 goes through a funnel and down an inclined plane. 10. Marble #3 makes second set of dominoes topple. 11. Dominoes cause candle to fall. 12. Lit candle lands in the jack-o-lantern. |
Reflection.
Overall, I thought that the STEM Rube Goldberg machine project was an amazing experience. The trust that I had in my classmates steadily grew as I became more comfortable working with them. I learned their strengths and weaknesses, and they learned mine. For example, they learned my strengths in aesthetics and calculating, and so I was put in charge of those categories. Looking back, I feel like our finished product was successful, but our path to success was a bit... uneven.
Sometimes our teamwork skills were extremely lacking during this project. We would have times where students would go to other groups because they had nothing to do and, we would have times where students were overloaded with work because they didn't want anyone to help them. Of course, we improved on this towards the end of the project, but it was still a prevailing issue. Another main problem for my group was communication. If someone needed help, they didn't know how to ask for it, and if someone wanted something to do, they didn't know how to make themselves useful. This, of course, includes me too. I was definitely both a villain and victim of these communication issues. This project extraordinarily helped both me and my teammates to learn how communicate and work better in groups.
I also learned many things about myself during this journey. I learned about how well I work when I'm in a team, and I learned how to improve upon some of my skills. The main skill that I learned to improve on would have had to have been my presentation skills. My team presented many times, and in our first presentation, I stumbled upon my words, fidgeted with my hands, and looked down at my note cards a lot. After the first run-through of our presentation, I learned not just how to present my Rube Goldberg machine, but how to present myself. I became more confident with what I was saying, and realized that I knew everything that was going on in our presentation, and I didn't need a script to tell the judges that.
I learned so much during this experience, and I can't wait to improve upon myself even more. I am sure that future projects have a lot in store for me, and I cannot wait to see what they are.
Sometimes our teamwork skills were extremely lacking during this project. We would have times where students would go to other groups because they had nothing to do and, we would have times where students were overloaded with work because they didn't want anyone to help them. Of course, we improved on this towards the end of the project, but it was still a prevailing issue. Another main problem for my group was communication. If someone needed help, they didn't know how to ask for it, and if someone wanted something to do, they didn't know how to make themselves useful. This, of course, includes me too. I was definitely both a villain and victim of these communication issues. This project extraordinarily helped both me and my teammates to learn how communicate and work better in groups.
I also learned many things about myself during this journey. I learned about how well I work when I'm in a team, and I learned how to improve upon some of my skills. The main skill that I learned to improve on would have had to have been my presentation skills. My team presented many times, and in our first presentation, I stumbled upon my words, fidgeted with my hands, and looked down at my note cards a lot. After the first run-through of our presentation, I learned not just how to present my Rube Goldberg machine, but how to present myself. I became more confident with what I was saying, and realized that I knew everything that was going on in our presentation, and I didn't need a script to tell the judges that.
I learned so much during this experience, and I can't wait to improve upon myself even more. I am sure that future projects have a lot in store for me, and I cannot wait to see what they are.