Buzz
Rube Goldberg (1883-1970) was not just a scientist but also a humorist, renowned for his satirical take on humanity's penchant for convoluted solutions. Through his whimsical drawings, he depicted elaborate chain reactions involving simple machines to accomplish mundane tasks, such as illuminating a room or cooking an egg. Creating a Rube Goldberg machine demands ingenuity and perseverance. While each contraption is unique, builders often draw inspiration from existing concepts, adding their own twists and connecting elements in captivating ways.
Essential Steps
Getting Ready for the Challenge or Contest
Familiarize Yourself with the Guidelines. Whether it's for a classroom assignment or an official contest, you'll receive a set of instructions and regulations for your Rube Goldberg machine. Take the time to thoroughly review these documents before you start planning or constructing your contraption. As you go through them, grasp the objective, specifications, and any limitations.
- If any aspect seems unclear, don't hesitate to seek clarification from your teacher, guardian, or an authorized individual.
- Failure to adhere to the guidelines could result in a low score or disqualification from the competition.
Choose a fundamental task for your contraption to achieve. Rube Goldberg machines are intricate setups that rely on interconnected reactions to accomplish a single straightforward objective. Before embarking on your design journey, pinpoint the specific task you want your machine to perform. If you're participating in a Rube Goldberg competition or working on a school project, your task might already be predetermined. If you have the liberty to choose, consider these possibilities:
- Opening or closing a door
- Activating a light switch
- Silencing an alarm
- Pouring a bowl of cereal
- Initiating a faucet flow
Seek out sources of inspiration. Crafting an elaborate and whimsical machine is no small feat. Prior to constructing your own Rube Goldberg contraption, it can be beneficial to explore existing examples. While drawing inspiration and direction from these examples is encouraged, avoid directly copying someone else's creation. Instead, aim to enhance, modify, or contemporize existing designs. Potential sources of inspiration include:
- Rube Goldberg’s original cartoons
- Entries from Rube Goldberg competitions
- YouTube videos showcasing operational Rube Goldberg machines
Devising Your Contraption
Gather your materials. Rube Goldberg machines repurpose conventional building materials, everyday objects, and unique items to create a cohesive system that accomplishes a simple task. Dedicate time to collecting items from your surroundings, purchasing supplies from stores, and/or scouring flea markets for distinctive finds. Potential building materials include:
- Dominoes
- Wooden planks
- Toilet paper tubes
- CDs or floppy disks
- Electric fans
- Toy vehicles
- Skateboards
- Action figures
- PVC piping
- Duct tape
- Pegboards
- Zip ties
- Magnets
- Marbles
- String
- Let your imagination soar!
Explore the possibilities with your materials. Lay out all your materials on your workspace. Once you're organized, begin experimenting with the items at hand. Engage in playful exploration, combining materials in unexpected ways to trigger chain reactions. Throughout your experimentation, maintain a log of successful combinations.
- Pose questions to yourself during the process. How can you use an item to propel a car down a wooden incline? What materials are necessary to construct a pendulum? What contraption can you devise with a lever, a marble, and an action figure?
Formulate a construction strategy. Rube Goldberg machines achieve simple tasks through intricate chain reactions. You can segment the reaction into multiple steps or phases, each linked together. When devising the machine, it's advantageous to start from the final step and progress backward. You can outline this strategy by enumerating the steps or illustrating the machine. For instance:
- Task: Burst a balloon.
- Step 3: A tack punctures the balloon, mounted on the front of a toy car.
- Link 1: The toy car descends a wooden slope.
- Step 2: A pendulum strikes the car, propelling it along the slope.
- Step 1: Initiate the pendulum's motion towards the car at the slope's peak.
Construct a preliminary model. Set up your workspace with your notes and construction plan. Rapidly assemble a prototype of your Rube Goldberg machine. This initial version need not be flawless. You'll refine the design later after conducting tests.
- If you encounter obstacles, refer back to your notes and explore alternative material combinations.
- If using tools, seek assistance from an adult.
Evaluating and Refining Your Machine
Evaluate your machine's practicality. Once the prototype is ready, initiate testing. The initial test determines the machine's functionality. If successful, proceed further; otherwise, reassess—don't abandon—your design.
- Can you swiftly address the issue?
- Do you need to replace an entire step?
- Are the materials optimal?
- Is the task realistically achievable?
Construct the final iteration and assess its consistency. Upon passing the feasibility assessment, construct a robust rendition of your Rube Goldberg machine. Evaluate its repeatability—the ability to consistently perform the task multiple times. Success entails autonomous operation. Iterate and fine-tune the machine until accomplishing the task five consecutive times. If unsuccessful after an hour, redesign the machine.
- Identify functional steps.
- Identify hindering steps.
- Is the task feasible?
Evaluate the machine's reliability. Once your machine passes the repeatability test, assess its reliability. Test the machine four times in total. A reliable machine will successfully complete the task at least three out of four times. If your machine passes this test, you've successfully crafted a functional Rube Goldberg machine.
- Prior to presenting the machine, practice disassembling and reassembling it several times.
Pointers
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Opt for materials that are easily adjustable, such as pegboards, building blocks, etc.
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Before assembling the entire machine, consider testing each step and connection individually.
The guidance in this section is drawn from the real-life experiences of Mytour readers like yourself. If you have a helpful tip you'd like to contribute to Mytour, please submit it in the provided field below.
- Consider starting from the end! Begin with the final action the machine will perform and work backward to streamline your project.
- Remember, this is your own creation! While drawing inspiration from others is encouraged, infuse your machine with creativity and your personal touch.
- This project may present challenges, but don't give up! Take pride in the hard work you're putting in and enjoy the process.
Cautionary Notes
- Exercise care and seek adult supervision when handling potentially hazardous materials.
