I'm building a rube goldberg machine for design tech as the final project, and I need some really good ideas.
2007-05-02 05:05:02 · 4 answers · asked by Dan 5 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Engineering
The object of a rube goldberg machine should be simple, such as turning on a fan, letting a cat out, or fetching a beer. The humor is, of course, the ridiculous complexity of the device used to accomplish the simple task.
So, first choose your intended outcome. What do you want the machine to accomplish? Keep it simple.
You can then work backward however many steps you want creating something that will accomplish that step. For example, if your object is to let the cat out, you need something that will open a door.
Since we know that dogs chase cats, perhaps a rope tied to a dog can act to open the door. Or maybe the dog could be on a treadmill connected to a generator and the electricity from the generator will be used in some way.
Now you need a way to alert the dog to the cat's presence so that it will chase the cat. Maybe you can slide a panel, which normally blocks the dog's view of the cat out of the way. Or maybe - especially for a dog on a treadmill - you might need only display an image of a cat for the dog to chase. OK, then how will you accomplish that?
Just keep going back, making some device to accomplish the next process in the chain until you get to the point where you want to start, such as the lazy cat owner sitting in his chair who gets activated by the cat scratching his leg letting him know that she wants out.
2007-05-02 06:24:17 · answer #1 · answered by dogsafire 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well if you cant think of any ideas you can always go to youtube and search for Rube Goldberg machines. There are so many and they are really cool to watch! I hope that helps!
2016-05-18 22:36:23 · answer #2 · answered by ? 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, since you're the one building it, and you're not asking us how to do it...
Water dripping into a container, either to float something up or to weight something down
Instead of just having a marble rolling down a slope, see if you can build a little hill it has to climb as well
Opening an inflated balloon somehow to blow something along
2007-05-02 05:15:44 · answer #3 · answered by harvityharvharvharv 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Seems like if it is your final project you should come up with the idea yourself...
2007-05-02 05:08:10 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋