Rube Goldberg Project

By Ethan, Mateo, Wesley, and Daniel

Theme
For this project, we not only had
to build a Rube Goldberg
machine, but we also had to
associate our parts with a
certain theme. Since everyone
in the group likes video games,
weve decided to make our
theme video games.
 Simple Machines
In our Rube Goldberg
machine, we used 5
simple machines. A
wedge, a pulley, an
inclined plane, a lever,
and a screw.
Wedge:
Our wedge is on the flagpole. In order to keep up with our theme, we
placed the wedge onto the flagpole which represented the flagpole
Mario takes down at the end of every level. Our wedge is used to
push a marble forward.

Pulley:

Our pulley system powered by weights which weve attached to

strings that are also attached to the pulley. The pulley pulls up one
of the lighter weights which bumps into the flagpole.
Screw:

A screw by definition is a spiral inclined plane.

Our screw is a spiral plarform which serves as
a channel for our Pac-man marble to go
down.

Inclined Plane:

The most common inclined plane is a ramp. Our ramps is a

part of our Donkey Kong barrel maze. As our barrel goes
down the ramps it gains momentum.
Lever:

Our lever is used to push an amiibo Bowser

(Bowser action figure) off of his platform. The
lever can be activated by collision with largest
weight which is pushed down a ramp.
Energy Transfers:
As a part of our Rube Goldberg machine we had to have 4 energy transfers.
Listed below are those energy transfers.

Our first energy transfer is our barrel going down the ramp to push our mass to
activate our pulley. This takes the potential energy of the mass and makes it
into kinetic.

The second transfer is when the Mario block hits the flagpole, transferring the
block energy to the flagpole. This makes the Mario block go from kinetic to
potential and the flagpole to go from potential to kinetic.

The third energy transfer is when the flagpole hits the marble which makes the
marble move. The previously unmoving pacman marble gains kinetic energy
and the flagpole goes still returning it back to having potential energy.
Energy Transfers Continued:
Another energy transfer is when the large mass hits the lever which moves the
bowser. The lever and Bowser gain kinetic energy with the mass having kinetic.
 The Eleven Steps

1. Pulling the hatch: When the hatch is pulled, the mass falls with a gravitational acceleration
of 9.8 m/s^2
2. Barrel Maze: This is the inclined plane the mass rolls down after the hatch is pulled. The
potential energy of the mass is .1519 Joules
3. Mario Pulley: The rolling mass eventually hits another mass into a box (150gs) on a pulley
system, this mass falls whilst pulling up another mass.
4. Flagpole: As the box is being forced down by the weight, a lighter weight is pulled up,
striking the end of a flagpole which forces the flagpole to turn down and strike a marble.
5. Pac-man Funnel: After the marble is stricken, it rolls into a funnel and down various
platforms.
6. Pac-man Screw: After the marble goes down various platforms it goes down into screw.
7. Mass Ramp: After the Pac-man goes down the spiral, it hits a mass which goes down a
ramp.
8. Larger Mass: As the mass gains speed, it is stopped by a larger mass.
9. Bowser Lever: The larger masses force pushes the lever.
 The Eleven Steps Continued

10. Bowser: After the lever is hit it pulls a Bowser amiibo below the lever off of its platform.
11. Saturday morning cereal: Bowser is pushed forward by a lever, which pushed over the
cereal, and pours the bowl.
Principles of Design

Emphasis:
Our Bowser section is bright and detailed compared to the rest of the
machine often catching the eye when the machine commences that
section.

Movement:
There is a constant pace to the movement as all the parts of the
machine are activated.

Unity:
Our Rube Goldberg Machine is an interesting and fun thing to watch. Its
actually quite pleasing to watch the machine work.
Aesthetics
The aesthetics in our machine include
A mass of 100 g that is painted like a barrel
A Super Mario themed pulley system
Super Mario flagpole wedge
A bowser amiibo figure
A marble painted like Pac-Man
Donkey Kong
Nintendo Cereal
 Rube Goldberg Construction Log

Day 1: Rube Goldberg machine theme was chosen and steps were made. The blueprint was started.

Day 2: Blueprint was finished. Stand for the board was built. Cage for marble was started. Pulley was nailed into board.

Day 3: Worked on barrel maze and marble cage. Container for pulley was being built.

Day 4: Marble cage was scraped. Ramps for barrel maze were started. New container for pulley was built.

Day 5: Ramps for barrel maze were finished. Fishing line was added to pulley. Mario block for pulley was built, with it and
container being attached to fishing line.

Day 6: Marble cage was built for barrel maze. Pulley step and barrel maze were tested and worked. Work on the flagpole
step was started. Platforms for screw step were built.

Day 7: Flagpole step was finished, tested, and found to work. Screw step was finished, tested, and worked. Second ramp
was attached to screw platform. Bowser swing building began.
 Rube Goldberg Construction Log Continued

Day 8: Walls for second ramp began being built. Bowser platform was built and the amiibo was attached to ramp
using fishing line. All previous steps were tested and perfected.

Day 9: Previous steps were continued to be perfected. Dominios step platform was built. Lever for second ramp
started to be built.

Day 10: Dominios step was scraped and lever was built.

Day 11: Fixing Machine after it fell over.