Our Rube Goldberg was a fun and exciting experience for both my group and myself. Our goal was to take a simple task and complete it using many complex steps and all of the six simple machine. We chose to place tips into a tip jar for our project. So we then started thinking and experimenting with how we could make it work. We talked about what simple machine we wanted to start and finish with, and then how many of each we wanted to implement into our project. We drew up a schematic of what we had thought of, but by the end of the project we had changed four of our steps. Eventually we drew up the schematic that would later turn into our project’s design. We started building our project, adding parts, taking them off, and just trying things over and over until they were perfected.
Rube Goldberg Steps
Step 1: We start by rolling a ball down two inclined planes
Step 2: The ball rolls into a cup attached to one side of a pulley
Step 3: The other side of the pulley rises and hits the underside of a lever
Step 4: The lever tilts downwards and bumps a still wheel and axle onto another inclined plane
Step 5: Once at the end of the inclined plane, the wheel and axle hits a marble
Step 6: The marble is bumped into the our screw where it rolls down to the bottom
Step 7: The marble comes out and lands on yet another inclined plane
Step 8: At the bottom of the inclined plane is a cup attached to a lever for the marble to land in
Step 9: Once the marble lands in the cup, it triggers the lever to tap a golf ball
Step 8: This golf ball rolls down an inclined plane towards the end of our project
Step 9: The ball, once at the bottom of the inclined plane, hits a wedge
Step 10: In front of the wedge are multiple coins, which are pushed in by the impact from the golf ball
Step 11: The coins are pushed into our tip jar. TIPS PLEASE.
Our calculations are shown in the picture below
This project was a great success,and even though we had some errors and mistakes, the end result couldn't have been better. We spent a small amount of time arguing or having disputes on what should go where or how it should look. We could have used this time better and improved our project. Our group tended to have some negative thoughts as well. These thoughts also tended to be about how a certain part should work, or if it would even work at all. Despite the small arguments, it was a great learning experience for me. Because of our arguing, we learned to grow closer as friends and to be able to work with people who think differently in the future. I learned all about force, velocity, acceleration, and so on. All of these concepts I will continue to use in my future and to better myself during my time here at STEM. This project has given me an amazing learning opportunity and showed me what's in store for a great four years ahead. Here are some pictures of our project and our group while we were building: