Project Description:
During this project, we built an amazing Rube Goldberg machine that we named the Maze Ruber. A Rube Goldberg machine is a machine that uses complicated steps to complete a simple task. We had about 13 days to plan and build our machine and we spent the first two planning, the next nine building, and the last two making our presentation. You may ask: Why Maze Ruber? Well, our Machine, The Maze Ruber is named after the book the Maze Runner. We combined Rube Goldberg and Maze Runner and got Maze Ruber. We also have a maze painted on our board, and the Glade at the bottom. Hitting the Easy button at the bottom is our end result. The end result of the “easy” button is ironically showing the “ease” of escaping the maze and building the machine.(It wasn’t easy.)
Our machine takes about 8.8 seconds to run and, in our machine we had 12 steps. We also used 5 different simple machines in our machine. We had 7 incline planes, which are basically ramps. We had 2 pulley systems, which allow things to be lifted easier. We had 1 wheel in axle, which spun around to allow a marble to go past. We had 1 lever, which turned on a wireless remote and we had 1 screw, which is a spiral ramp. We also had energy transfers in each step, but I only explain four of them in the presentation. The machine starts when you release 3 marbles down the ramp on the top right side. After that, they hit a lever which triggers the wireless remote. This remote turns a gate on the other side that releases a marble down the ramp on the left. Halfway down the machine, these marbles from both sides all meet in a funnel and then continue into the screw. After coming out of the screw, they roll onto a ramp that brings them to out last pulley system. This pulley system raises the weight that was on the button, and the button goes off.
We also made a Google slides presentation that I have posted further down on this page. In the presentation, you can view our construction record and steps in more detail as well as some other things we felt were beneficial to our presentation.
We started off the project by planning for two days. We sketched up a schematic and we listed our materials. We then had 9 building days, and we had about an hour and a half each day to build. We started by building from the start of the machine(the top) to the end(the bottom). After the machine was finished, we made our presentation and calculated important data for each step. To see our construction log in more detail, please view the Google slides presentation.
Concepts:
In this project, we learned about energy transfers, physics terms and concepts, and how to figure out these concepts in the real world. We also learned valuable skills while working with power tools. Here are the physics concepts that we learned and used in our project:
Distance(d): Amount of space between two points, measured in meters(m). We used distance to measure the lengths of our ramps as well as the screw.
Velocity(v): The rate of covered distance in a direction, measured in meters per second(m/s). v= 🔺d/🔺t. We didn't include velocity in our presentation, instead we included acceleration, which is the change in velocity.
Acceleration(a): The rate of change of velocity, measured in meters per second squared(m/s^2). a=🔺v/🔺t(time). To find the acceleration down a ramp: a(ramp)= (ag)/MA. We used acceleration instead of velocity in our project because we were calculating force for most of the steps and to calculate force you need acceleration.
Acceleration due to gravity(ag): Gravity is a force between objects in proportion to their mass and inverse to their distance. The acceleration due to gravity is about 9.8 m/s^2. You can use the acceleration due to gravity to find the force of free falling objects, but in our machine all of our objects were going down ramps so we used the formula for acceleration down a ramp instead, which still uses the acceleration due to gravity.
Acceleration down a ramp: To find the acceleration of an object down a ramp you take the acceleration due to gravity(9.8 m/s^2) and divide by the mechanical advantage of the ramp. We used this to find the acceleration of the marbles down all of our ramps.
Work(W): Amount of energy put into something, measured in Joules(J) W = 🔺KE=🔺PE. W= Fd. We used work to figure out how much energy went into our pulleys and levers.
Mass(m):Amount of matter; number of atoms, measured in kilograms(kg). We measured the mass of the marbles to calculate force.
Force(f): Push or pull on an object, measured in newtons(N). F=ma. We used force to calculate how much force the marbles applied on the pulleys and levers.
Gravitational Potential energy(PE): Energy an object has due to its height, measured in Joules(J). PEg= m(ag)h. W = 🔺KE=🔺PE. We used potential energy to demonstrate our energy transfers. To view the four energy transfers we explained, please view our Google Slides.
Kinetic Energy(KE): Energy due to motion. Measured in Joules. KE= ½ mv^2. W = 🔺KE=🔺PE. We used kinetic energy to demonstrate energy transfers as well. Please view the Google Slide for more info about our energy transfers.
Mechanical Advantage(MA): How much easier a tool makes a task.
MA= F w/o machine divided by F w/ machine or d w/ machine divided by d w/o machine.
Mechanical advantage helped us increase force applied to certain objects in our machine, such as the remote. We then had to calculate mechanical advantage to figure out the forces.
Overall, I think that our group did really well. We all learned new skills and we worked together nicely in a team. One thing that I learned during this project was proper use of power tools. I had used a drill before but I couldn't really remember exactly how I had to use it. During this project, I learned how to use a power drill, chop saw, bigger drill bits, and how to effectively use these tools. Also, I thought we had a very nice presentation style. We made our presentation flow after many tweaks and revisions and we planned on who would say what before we actually had to present. I think we were prepared during this entire project for whatever we had to do the next day. In the end, our presentation went smoothly and it was very clear.
I think we could have worked on our machine's effectiveness a bit more. The only major thing that stood out at the presentation night was that out machine couldn't be consistent. It only worked half the time because our remote couldn't trigger the other side every time. If we had more time, I think this would be what we would have to improve on. We did make it work a little bit more consistently by moving the transceiver but it still wasn't in the correct range. We would have had to get longer wires and move the transceiver close to the remote. Another thing that we could have worked on was getting everyone to do something all the time. Each day, we didn't have enough work for everyone in our group to be working all the time. We finished on time, but I think that if we used up all of our time, we could have gotten more work done. This could have also helped us with our prior negative: the fact that our machine wasn't totally consistent.
I think we could have worked on our machine's effectiveness a bit more. The only major thing that stood out at the presentation night was that out machine couldn't be consistent. It only worked half the time because our remote couldn't trigger the other side every time. If we had more time, I think this would be what we would have to improve on. We did make it work a little bit more consistently by moving the transceiver but it still wasn't in the correct range. We would have had to get longer wires and move the transceiver close to the remote. Another thing that we could have worked on was getting everyone to do something all the time. Each day, we didn't have enough work for everyone in our group to be working all the time. We finished on time, but I think that if we used up all of our time, we could have gotten more work done. This could have also helped us with our prior negative: the fact that our machine wasn't totally consistent.