How to Make a Mini Rube Goldberg Project
A Rube Goldberg machine is an invention that uses an unnecessarily complicated series of steps to accomplish a fairly simple task. It is named after engineer and humorist Reuben Goldberg whose syndicated comic strip once depicted laughably complex machines that used such elements as cannons, live animals and boiling kettles to accomplish tasks like combing hair or flagging a taxi. Unlike a full-fledged Rube Goldberg machine, a mini Rube Goldberg project usually only needs to include a few steps to accomplish its goal.
Things You'll Need
- Cardboard
- Scissors
- Tape
- String
- Dowels or pencils
- Glue
- Marbles or small balls
- Weights
Instructions
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1
Pick a goal for your machine to accomplish. It should be fairly simple, in keeping with the scope of the project and the triviality of typical Rube Goldberg machines' goals. For example, you may want to make a drawer-opening machine.
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2
Pick a direct physical cause that can accomplish the machine's goal using materials available to you. For a machine that opens a drawer, the direct cause can be a string tied to the drawer handle pulling the drawer open.
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3
Design a series of about four steps for your machine to perform, working backward and limiting your choices to things you can build with the materials you have. For example, a string will pull the drawer open, and a weight hanging from that string over a dowel can apply the needed force. A ball could knock the weight off a platform, causing it to pull the string. A pencil could hold the ball at the top of a ramp until the user removes the pencil.
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4
Build the invention. The drawer-opening machine, for example, would be constructed on a platform whose height is similar to the height of the drawer off the ground. Fashion a ramp out of a strip of cardboard folded into a long trough and cut a notch in the sides to hold a pencil near the top to hold back a ball. Cut cardboard supports that can hold a dowel a few inches out from the drawer to act as a pulley. Tie one end of the rope to the drawer handle, pass it over the dowel and tie the other end to the weights. Put the weights at the edge of their surface and aim the ramp at them.
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5
Test the invention. As you construct each stage, make sure it consistently launches the next one or is launched by the one before, depending on in what order you are building. Make any necessary adjustments before moving on to build the next stage.
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References
Resources
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