RUBE GOLDBERG INTRO: A Rube Goldberg machine is a machine that completes a simple maneuver by making it as complicated as possible. For our Rube Goldberg machine we had our simple maneuver be, putting whipped cream on a cookie and sprinkles on another cookie to make a cookie sandwich. In order to make it as complicated as possible we had 11 different steps and 5 different simple machines. Our team went above and beyond because we only needed 10 steps and 5 simple machines. At the beginning of our project we choose a theme, our group decided on the theme candy/sugar. So to incorporate our theme into our final product we decorated the board with candy and painted a gumball machine onto it.
OUR PROJECT: Our project is made out of a 4ft by 4ft board and many simple machines. Instead of using a marble to go through our project we used a gumball to incorporate our theme of candy. To begin we have a spatula in which we used as a ramp that the marble is set on to roll down. Then it goes through a piping bag and drops on to our candy cane set of ramps. Then the ball falls into a cup which is part of a pulley system, when the gumboil goes into the cup it lowers raising the other side which hits a wheel and axel rolling down another candy cane ramp which hits another gumball that rolls down a down-ward spiral onto a ramp where at the end of the ramp is a lever. When it hits the lever it rocks up and down releasing sprinkles onto the cookie below. After the gumball drops into the cup and goes down the pulley, the cup is tilted releasing the gumball onto a ramp. The ramp then transitions to another ramp, which is going the opposite direction. Then at the end of the ramp the gumball hits a weight, which pulls a whip cream bottle, however the nozzle of the bottles is put in a stationary place releasing whip cream onto a cookie. After the two cookies get whip cream and sprinkles onto them, they get put together to get a yummy whip cream and sprinkle cookie sandwich.
SUMMERY: In out project we faced many problems. The hardest part was getting it to work and figuring out how to make the cup drop and tilt while also making it so that it starts the wheel and axel. This function alone took us 3 days and it still would barely work. Another problem we faced in building was making the whip cream can dispense whip cream. When first trying to figure it out we glue the string onto the nozzle and nail the bottle into place. However after it working about 6 time the nozzle came off, so we tried to get it to stick on again but was not successful. So after 2 days of working at it we decided to try movie the bottle and keeping the nozzle in place. This was found to be easier to get to work however it still only worked 20% of the time and half the time the weight wouldn't fall off the ramp properly.
As a team we struggled in many ways also, including communication, worth ethic and productivity, and deviding work up. Our biggest struggle was communication. At the beginning we all worked rather well but towards the end people started getting frustrated with each other, including myself. We would often have people not working and two people doing the same thing thinking that it was ok. We wouldn't talk about what would need to be done we would just find a task and do it or not do anything at all. Which leads me to my next point, work ethic and productivity. As a group we didn't not have a good work ethic, we would generally not work or be completely focused and if we were it would only be two people at a time. This became real to use towards the end since we were really crushed for time. We also ended up procrastinating at the end. We decorated our board for two days before the project was even done. We tricked our selfs into doing this by just assuming someone else would be finishing it, however we would never know if they are or aren't since we didn't communicate. This is part of the reason we had a problem with dividing work up. We would often divide work up, by giving far more work to the more productive people making it unfair and just giving busy work to the less productive people. This made it so one people would have 'finished' their work and others would be working harder and longer. Personally I found many of my own strengths and weaknesses. One of my strengths I found was leadership and productivity. I found I tried to be a leader and encourage others to do their work. I was productive myself, for when I was given work I finished rather quickly and giving my best. However I found I was not motivated to work and often would not work and and would just go to the side and give myself busy work. This made it easy to not actually have to do "hard" work. Also I struggled in Attitude and demeanor. For instance if I was trying to be a leader as compared to encouraging people to do their work I would straight up tell them to do something even if they didn't want to I wouldn't even listen to what they had to stay. I would just get mad at them when they didn't do their work.I also did not work well with cooperation. I would rater sit and work on it myself compared to working with others. For instance I snapped at a person in my team when they didn't get their work done after having two days to do it. So I went without regarding their work and did it myself not even using the ideas they had came up with. That is proof of another one of my weaknesses which is empathy. I didn't care that they had put in time to work on something I just instantly oversaw it and used my own work.
As a team we struggled in many ways also, including communication, worth ethic and productivity, and deviding work up. Our biggest struggle was communication. At the beginning we all worked rather well but towards the end people started getting frustrated with each other, including myself. We would often have people not working and two people doing the same thing thinking that it was ok. We wouldn't talk about what would need to be done we would just find a task and do it or not do anything at all. Which leads me to my next point, work ethic and productivity. As a group we didn't not have a good work ethic, we would generally not work or be completely focused and if we were it would only be two people at a time. This became real to use towards the end since we were really crushed for time. We also ended up procrastinating at the end. We decorated our board for two days before the project was even done. We tricked our selfs into doing this by just assuming someone else would be finishing it, however we would never know if they are or aren't since we didn't communicate. This is part of the reason we had a problem with dividing work up. We would often divide work up, by giving far more work to the more productive people making it unfair and just giving busy work to the less productive people. This made it so one people would have 'finished' their work and others would be working harder and longer. Personally I found many of my own strengths and weaknesses. One of my strengths I found was leadership and productivity. I found I tried to be a leader and encourage others to do their work. I was productive myself, for when I was given work I finished rather quickly and giving my best. However I found I was not motivated to work and often would not work and and would just go to the side and give myself busy work. This made it easy to not actually have to do "hard" work. Also I struggled in Attitude and demeanor. For instance if I was trying to be a leader as compared to encouraging people to do their work I would straight up tell them to do something even if they didn't want to I wouldn't even listen to what they had to stay. I would just get mad at them when they didn't do their work.I also did not work well with cooperation. I would rater sit and work on it myself compared to working with others. For instance I snapped at a person in my team when they didn't get their work done after having two days to do it. So I went without regarding their work and did it myself not even using the ideas they had came up with. That is proof of another one of my weaknesses which is empathy. I didn't care that they had put in time to work on something I just instantly oversaw it and used my own work.
CALCULATIONS:
We used many diffrant types calculations to explain what is happening through out our machine. For the first step we found the poyential energy. Potential energy is, the amount of energy an object due to its position at a hight in a gravitational field. To find the Potential energy we used the equation, PE=mgh, m is mass, g is acceleration due to gravity, and h is the hight. So we plugged in PE= .008m times 9.8m/s times .1m. then we solved it and got Potential energy= .008 Joules.
OTHER CALCULATIONS:
We used many diffrant types calculations to explain what is happening through out our machine. For the first step we found the poyential energy. Potential energy is, the amount of energy an object due to its position at a hight in a gravitational field. To find the Potential energy we used the equation, PE=mgh, m is mass, g is acceleration due to gravity, and h is the hight. So we plugged in PE= .008m times 9.8m/s times .1m. then we solved it and got Potential energy= .008 Joules.
OTHER CALCULATIONS:
- Mechanical Advantage: found by counting the loops on the pulley. MA=1
- Velocity: found by change in distance divided by change in time. (1.826m)/(2.42 seconds)=.75meters per second
- Acceleration: found by change in velocity divided by change in time. (.75m/sec)/(.25sec)=3meters per second squared
- Mechanical Advantage is how much easier a simple machine makes a sertian task.
- Velocity is how fast an object is moving in a certain direction.
- Acceleration is how fast an object gains or losses speed.