Rube Goldberg

As a class, we had to create a Rube Goldberg project that would perform a specific task. In our case, that was popping a balloon. Our class split the compound machine into five parts. Each part had to have at least three different mechanisms, with an actual mechanical advantage of one, and all of the individual parts had to run smoothly. We were allowed to use the VEX kits and other materials we may have needed we could bring in from home.

Design Brief

Concept Generation

The first drawing has the two sketches that I drew. In the first, the ball travels down the ramp, which then would travel down the lever and hit the dominoes, which would then hit another lever. In the second, the ball would travel down the lever and fall into a bucket that was attached to a pulley. When the bucket went down, a block would hit the ball balanced on the edge of a ramp and push it down starting the next machine. In the second picture, Alex's, a ball falls down a ramp, which falls into a bucket that is attached to a pulley. The other side of the pulley string is attached to the lever, which pulls the lever up. In the second drawing, a wedge drives two blocks, which pushes a ball down a ramp. The ball hits something that then hits the top of a lever and pushes it down. In the third drawing, Evan's, a weight is dropped onto a lever. The lever pushes up an object that is connected to a pulley system. The system pulls up a block that tips the ball down the inclined plane. In the second drawing, a ball is dropped onto a wedge that drives two blocks apart. The second block pushes a ball down an inclined plane which then falls onto a lever that pushes another ball up.

Our group did not end up modifying the original design.

Modifications

Final Design Selection

To make our final decision, our group used a design matrix. Since we had two designs with the same score, we chose the one we liked better.

Throughout the course of this project, I worked with my teammates to create part of a Rube Goldberg machine. While our machine worked, there were some key changes that we could have made. One change that could have been made is that we could have read through the criteria first, so we would know that the AMA was supposed to be greater than one. One change we could have made to the machine to make it more dependable is that we could have added some more screws around the base near the c-plate that falls so it would for sure fall in the same direction every time. In order to change the AMA to be greater than one we would have had to change the entire machine.

Reflection

Design Performance

Overall, our project satisfied most of the criteria in that it had three different mechanisms and that it worked with all the other machines to help pop the balloon. The only criteria we didn't satisfy was that the AMA had to be greater than one.

This is the final Rube Goldberg, fully assembled. To view more pictures click here!