Rube Goldberg Machine
For our first project in STEM, we built a Rube Goldberg Machine. For our project, we raised a flag.
Team Laushon-Machine Video
Building Days
-On the first building day, my group worked on putting up the baseboard, which was a 3 ft wide and 4 ft long wood board. to stabilize it, we attached wood blocks on the sides along the bottom, and another 3 ft long and 1 ft wide plank on the bottom for stability, using screws.
-On the second building day, we began to attach where the marble wood start. This was our first step in the project. We also began laying out where the tube was going to go, but could not attach it yet, because the tube was unavailable at the time.
-On the third building day, we attached the wood that would come after the tube, but still could not attach the tube due to, once again, lack of tube.
-On the fourth building day, we realized that the wood was very wobbly and unstable towards the top, so we decided to build a backboard by getting a plank and using wood glue to attach. As we found out the next day, this did not work so well. At this time, we also began to map out some of the other features, like the pulley, on the board.
-On the fifth building day, we one again, attached the backboard by screwing it in, which worked much better. We screwed the pulley in, and attached the string and cup, ext.
-On the sixth day, we attached the screw using 9 ft of tube.
-On the seventh day, we attached the sixth, seventh, and eighth step.
-On the eighth day we attached the lever, which was step 9, and began to attach the pulley for the final step.
-On the ninth day we finished attaching the final step and ran the machine multiple times to make sure it worked.
-On the second building day, we began to attach where the marble wood start. This was our first step in the project. We also began laying out where the tube was going to go, but could not attach it yet, because the tube was unavailable at the time.
-On the third building day, we attached the wood that would come after the tube, but still could not attach the tube due to, once again, lack of tube.
-On the fourth building day, we realized that the wood was very wobbly and unstable towards the top, so we decided to build a backboard by getting a plank and using wood glue to attach. As we found out the next day, this did not work so well. At this time, we also began to map out some of the other features, like the pulley, on the board.
-On the fifth building day, we one again, attached the backboard by screwing it in, which worked much better. We screwed the pulley in, and attached the string and cup, ext.
-On the sixth day, we attached the screw using 9 ft of tube.
-On the seventh day, we attached the sixth, seventh, and eighth step.
-On the eighth day we attached the lever, which was step 9, and began to attach the pulley for the final step.
-On the ninth day we finished attaching the final step and ran the machine multiple times to make sure it worked.
The Simple Machines
The simple machines we used were:
- Inclined Plane
- Screw
- Pulley
- Wedge
- Lever
Final Schematic
Concepts Used and Calculations
Mechanical Advantage- How much easier a machine makes a task
Velocity- The speed at which an object moves in a direction
Kinetic Energy (KE)- Energy due to motion, measured in Joules
Potential Energy (PE)- How much energy an object would gain when falling, measured in Joules
Acceleration- How much speed an object gains in a certain direction. Acceleration due to gravity is 9.8 m/s squared
Force- A push or pull on an object, measured in Newtons
Velocity- The speed at which an object moves in a direction
Kinetic Energy (KE)- Energy due to motion, measured in Joules
Potential Energy (PE)- How much energy an object would gain when falling, measured in Joules
Acceleration- How much speed an object gains in a certain direction. Acceleration due to gravity is 9.8 m/s squared
Force- A push or pull on an object, measured in Newtons
Reflection
Our project was an overall success. During this project i developed leadership skills I did not know I had before. I also learned how to work with other people's ideas, which I believe can really benefit me in the future. Our team had some definite communication issues, which is something we could all work on. A lot of the time our ideas crashed together, and we did argue sometimes, but overall, we did complete the project on time, and I was very pleased with the result. I think this was a very important learning experience, and I will take the things I learned from this into consideration for further projects.