Rube Goldberg Machine

Group name: YELLOW TAPE
Group Members: Raman, Jaideep, Sushil, Jezreel

Rube Goldberg Machine
The Rube Goldberg Machine can be called a contraption, device, or even apparatus
which was deliberately over-engineered to perform a very simple task in a very complicated
fashion, usually including a chain of reaction. The machine was named after the cartoonist Rube
Goldberg (1883-1970). Today the worlds largest Rube Goldberg Machine consists of 300
different steps and was made in USA by the Purdue Society of Professional Engineers (PSPE).
However, it was our job to make a RGM which had only 20 different steps. These 20 different
steps had to show multiple types of motion that we had learnt over the course which included,
circular, projectile, rolling motion. Also, along with the types of motion we also needed different
types of energys in those 20 steps. The types of energys we needed in out RGM were
gravitational, kinetic, and elastic energy. Lastly, somewhere in those steps we needed magnetic
or electric field along with some form of conservation of momentum. Furthermore, like any other
RGM our machines task was to turn on a light bulb which we decided on doing by making a
short circuit which would be completed once a piece of aluminum foiled came in contact with
the missing link in the circuit.
A requirement of the Rube Goldberg machine was to have the following motions such as;
circular, projectile, rolling and the following forces, gravitational, kinetic and elastic, as well as
conservation of momentum and electric or magnetic field. Projectile motion and elastic energy
can be observed by the spring launcher in the first step. As the spring is stretched for launch, it
has potential elastic energy. When this spring is launched, it follows a projectile pathway and
hits a ball. As the ball goes through the pipe and falls into a cup attached to windmill, the weight
of the ball on the cup forces the windmill to move in a uniform circular motion. This allows the
ball to fall out of the cup and onto a ramp. The ball experiences rolling motion on the ramp as the
ball rotates around its central axis to move down the ramp and hits a towel paper roll. This action
causes the roll to hit a domino which leads to a domino effect. The action of one domino hitting
another can be seen as the conservation of momentum. Once the domino has fallen, it transfers
its momentum to the other domino. The last domino hits a toy ladybug. This toy ladybug has a
paper attached to it with a string. This piece of paper acts as a gate to a toy car on the ramp
above. So, when the ladybug starts moving, it pulls the paper with it and the car is now able to
move and possesses kinetic energy and hits a set of dominoes. The kinetic energy is converted
into momentum. This collision causes the dominoes to fall over and the tension in the string
attached to the dominoes causes the wooden rod above to move. The ball which was stationary
due to the blockage of wooden rod, is now on the move. It follows a curved path and hits a
cylinder. This cylinder is a certain height above ground and is attached to a string. It acts as a zip
line from one end of the box to the other. Before the cylinder is hit by the ball, it possess
gravitational potential energy. As the cylinder travels across, it hits a magnet covered in
aluminium foil. This causes the magnet to fall over. There's another magnet that is attached to
the circuit. There's a strong attraction between the magnets, so when the magnet falls over it
Group name: YELLOW TAPE
Group Members: Raman, Jaideep, Sushil, Jezreel
swings and attaches to the other magnet. This causes the light to turn on because the aluminium
foil attached to the magnets completes the circuit. This was the physics behind our Rube
Goldberg's machine.
Once, our machine was completed we had successfully incorporated 20 steps with ease.
And we also kept in mind that these 20 steps should at least have the motions and the different
types of energys somewhere smoothly incorporated. The circular motion was completed with
the help of the wind catcher, the rolling motion was completed by the ball rolling down the ramp,
and the projectile motion was checked of the list with the help of the spring launcher.
Additionally, the spring launcher completed two aspects of the requirement for the RGM which
were projectile motion along with elastic energy. Now, we were left with gravitational energy
which was completed by the ball falling down the pipe. Furthermore, the magnetic field was
created once the circuit was completed (with the help of magnets) and the conservation of
momentum was done once the dominoes were knocked down.
When it came to the actual test day our machine did a fabulous job as every step worked
and at the end our light bulb did turn on. However, like any other projects/assignments there is
always some room for improvements. For the RGM I think we couldve had more steps and we
could have made better use of the space we had. Meaning having different levels within the box
wouldve been an efficient way to manage our space. Lastly, the biggest problem we had was not
getting a chance to actually do test runs.
To improve the elastic energy component in our machine, next time we could use a looser
spring which would cause more ease in launching it and hitting the bakugon. To improve the
projectile motion, the motion should be included somewhere else in the device rather in the
beginning rather than at the start where it causes difficulty to hit the ball. To improve circular
motion, the spinning wheel could have been positioned in a way where it would do more of a
rotation in circular motion. Rolling motion could have been improved by putting borders around
the ramp so it would travel in linear motion. Conservation of momentum could have been altered
by using 2D momentum where one object hitting another would cause both objects to change
their direction and speed of movement. Kinetic energy could have been improved by using
another object rather than a car that actually had initial velocity. Gravitational energy could have
been changed to make it gain gravitational energy rather than lose. Also electric fields could
have been used such as a solenoid which h would cause light bulb to turn on, or else the
magnetic fields used could be altered to use repletion instead of attraction. In conclusion, our
RGM was a success and it met all requirements mentioned in the RGM rubric.

Rube Goldberg Machine

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Group name: YELLOW TAPE

Group Members: Raman, Jaideep, Sushil, Jezreel

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