The Mystery Machine
Our first project, The Rube Goldberg Machine, was a fun start to the year. The definition of a Rube Goldberg machine is a contraption, invention or a device to perform a simple task in a complicated fashion, usually including a chain reaction. The expression is named after American cartoonist and inventor Rube Goldberg.
We had three days at the beginning of our project to brainstorm and design our machines. In these three days, our group decided to name our machine "The Mystery Machine" and have our end result having a cup of "Scooby Snax" being knocked into a dog bowl. It is based on the television show "Scooby Doo." Our next nine days were building days. Our group used power tools such as drills and power saws, and other tools such as hand saws and box cutters. In those nine building days, we built our machine based on the design that we came up with. In our machine, we had twelve steps. In those twelve steps, we had five simple machines. These five simple machines were inclined planes, a screw, a wheel and axle, a lever, and a wedge. These steps resulted in the "Scooby Snax" being knocked into the bowl. For our last three days, we worked on our finishing touches to our machine, including finding all the calculations for our presentation.
Steps and Calculations
Our machine consisted of twelve steps.
1. Our first step was lifting a wedge. Lifting the wedge took 0.38 joules of work. Work is the amount of force put into something
2-4. The next three steps was a ball hitting dominoes, the dominoes toppling over, and the dominoes triggering another ball. The dominoes toppled over because their center of mass went outside of their base.
5. Our fifth step was our first inclined plane. The mechanical advantage of the inclined plane was 10. The mechanical advantage of a simple machine is how much easier it makes a task.
6. The sixth step of the machine was the screw. To get the mechanical advantage of the screw, we took the total distance that the screw covered, and multiplied it by the height of the screw. We got a mechanical advantage of 20.57
7. The next step is the wheel and axle. The mechanical advantage of this is 2.25
8. When the ball fell off the lever and hit the second inclined plane, the force of the ball was 0.05N
9. The ninth step of our machine was the second inclined plane. The potential energy of the inclined plane is 0.021 joules
10. When the ball fell into the cup, which was our tenth step, the force of the ball was 0.093N
11-12. When the ball went into the tube and rolled into the cup of "Scooby Snax," it had a velocity of 0.737m/s
1. Our first step was lifting a wedge. Lifting the wedge took 0.38 joules of work. Work is the amount of force put into something
2-4. The next three steps was a ball hitting dominoes, the dominoes toppling over, and the dominoes triggering another ball. The dominoes toppled over because their center of mass went outside of their base.
5. Our fifth step was our first inclined plane. The mechanical advantage of the inclined plane was 10. The mechanical advantage of a simple machine is how much easier it makes a task.
6. The sixth step of the machine was the screw. To get the mechanical advantage of the screw, we took the total distance that the screw covered, and multiplied it by the height of the screw. We got a mechanical advantage of 20.57
7. The next step is the wheel and axle. The mechanical advantage of this is 2.25
8. When the ball fell off the lever and hit the second inclined plane, the force of the ball was 0.05N
9. The ninth step of our machine was the second inclined plane. The potential energy of the inclined plane is 0.021 joules
10. When the ball fell into the cup, which was our tenth step, the force of the ball was 0.093N
11-12. When the ball went into the tube and rolled into the cup of "Scooby Snax," it had a velocity of 0.737m/s
Reflection
The Rube Goldberg machine project was a great first project. It was fun, interesting, and I loved my group members. We got along very well and divided the work out evenly. We all shared the power tools, and worked efficiently. There were some highs and lows. Some highs were that our machine worked!(most of the time) and that our presentation was a success. We did have some lows. Our group struggled on time. In the last three days, which were meant for working on our presentation, we were still putting on the finishing touches. That only gave us a limited amount of time to get all of our calculations done, make the presentation, and finish the final schematic drawing. For our next project, we should plan our days ahead of time, so we are not scrambling at the last minute. If we had more time, it would leave us with more time to look for and fix any errors that we could have made.
This project taught me how to use multiple power tools such as a drill and a power saw. It also taught me how to work in a team. I worked very well with the members in my group and we got along very nicely. It is a great way to make friends! I learned more about physics, including mechanical advantage and work. Some things I could have done better is being more productive. I need to work on doing something productive at all times. Even when there is nothing to build on the machine, I should still ask somebody to give me an assignment, or I could come up with a productive assignment on my own. I could have also been more of a leader. In this project, I followed. I did what I was told to do and I would like to help more with assigning other people to tasks, not having people assign me to tasks. Another thing I could do to be more of a leader is to monitor my group members and keep them on task.
I thought this project was a phenomenal start to a fun, yet challenging year in engineering. I loved building my machine with power tools, and having fun with my amazing group. I am excited to bring all of this knowledge that I learned from this project into action outside of school.
This project taught me how to use multiple power tools such as a drill and a power saw. It also taught me how to work in a team. I worked very well with the members in my group and we got along very nicely. It is a great way to make friends! I learned more about physics, including mechanical advantage and work. Some things I could have done better is being more productive. I need to work on doing something productive at all times. Even when there is nothing to build on the machine, I should still ask somebody to give me an assignment, or I could come up with a productive assignment on my own. I could have also been more of a leader. In this project, I followed. I did what I was told to do and I would like to help more with assigning other people to tasks, not having people assign me to tasks. Another thing I could do to be more of a leader is to monitor my group members and keep them on task.
I thought this project was a phenomenal start to a fun, yet challenging year in engineering. I loved building my machine with power tools, and having fun with my amazing group. I am excited to bring all of this knowledge that I learned from this project into action outside of school.