Ideas for a Rube Goldberg Device
The eccentric contraptions depicted in the cartoons of Rube Goldberg featured purposely over-complicated simple machines that performed otherwise simple tasks. Rube Goldberg devices are now used in classrooms as a way to provide students with a hands-on opportunity to combine engineering and design skills with childlike imagination and creativity. Before you can begin building your contraption, you must determine the design and task your device will perform.
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Morning Routines
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Everyday activities are useful sources for identifying simple tasks that can be performed with a series of simple machines aligned in a Rube Goldberg device. Review your morning routine to identify a simple task for your device to perform. Pouring a glass of milk, squeezing toothpaste onto a toothbrush or dropping a book into a backpack are all suitable end tasks for a Rube Goldberg device. Once you choose your end task, work backwards. Determine what type of motion or simple machine could perform the end task. For example, a weight could land on a tube of toothpaste to squeeze it out. Then determine how you could get a weight to fall. Continue working backward until your device is sufficiently complex.
Edible Goals
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If you are presenting your machine to your class or at a science fair, an end task that results in an edible treat for your audience is an engaging and clever option. Simple options include pouring juice into a cup, filling a bowl with chips or dropping a dollop of frosting onto a sugar cookie or cupcake. If you are presenting a machine at a college level, more complicated task options include cracking an egg into a heated pan or spreading jam onto a piece of bread. Working backwards from the final task allows you to ensure that the goal is achieved once the full machine is complete.
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Using Simple Machines
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Most Rube Goldberg machines entered into competitions or assigned as classwork have parameters regarding a minimum number of steps or simple machines. The six types of simple machines involved in a Rube Goldberg machine are levers, inclined planes, wedges, screws, pulleys and wheels and axles. Levers are particularly useful for redistributing weight; one step in your machine might be dropping a weight onto a level that shifts to knock over a ball down a plane or chute. Planes are simple ways to carry an object from a high to a low place, like a ball or small cart built on a wheel and axle. Pulleys are one of the more complex types of simple machines, so consider reserving the pulley requirement for either the first motion that you can control by hand or the last motion that completes the machine.
End at the Beginning
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The starting point is often saved as the last part of the design process. The first motion of your Rube Goldberg device sets off a chain reaction that causes a series of movements that will eventually complete the task you've chosen. A simple but dramatic way to start off your machine is to release a hinged weight that knocks over a series of weighted dominoes; the last domino might knock a ball down a ramp or release a hook attached to a pulley that falls onto the next cue. Another eye-catching way to start your machine is to light a candle beneath a string so that the flame breaks the string; the string might be putting tension on a bendable piece of plastic that snaps down on the next cue, like a ball that rolls down an incline.
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References
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