Back To The Future Rube Goldberg Machine

ENGG 123 Group 12 15 November, 2012

Abdulmajeed Alqarni Nicolene Claassen Zachary Hass Brenden Mai Brandon Purdue Tanner Thomsen

I.

Executive Summary

When faced with a challenge one could simply look for the easiest answer to solve the question without a deep enough analysis of the question. When our group looked at the problem of creating a Rube Goldberg project that had specific constraints and limits, we did not just look at the easiest way to solve the problem; we tried to approach the problem with the most advanced and logical way. When things did not work for us we did have to go to plan B quite often, as we wanted to keep the train of progress moving in our project. We worked many hours trying just to get the project right once we had built it, tweaking parts here and there to make sure that we got the best run-through possible. However there were three main parts in which made our project goal a success in the end, they were the design, the modification to the design, tweaking of the final structures materials. This report gives an in-depth overview of our project, which includes the problem statement, objective, background information, design details, methodology, and budget.

Table of Contents
I. Executive Summary ........................................................................................................... 2 1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 4
1.1. 1.2. 2.1. 3.1. Problem Statement ................................................................................................................ 4 Objectives .................................................................................................................................. 4 Rube Goldberg Machine ....................................................................................................... 5 Limits and Constraints .......................................................................................................... 5

2. Background ......................................................................................................................... 5 3. Design Details ..................................................................................................................... 5 4. Design Specifications ....................................................................................................... 6

4.1. Starting task (Marty gets knocked over by an amped up speaker) ...................... 8 4.2. Subtask 1 Doc gets shot in the parking lot. ................................................................ 9 4.3. Subtask 2 Delorean Fire Tracks .................................................................................. 10 4.4. Subtask 3 Biff Crashes into Manure Truck .............................................................. 11 4.5. Subtask 4 Marty gets hit by a car and meets his mom ........................................ 12 4.6. Subtask 5 Marty catches a ride behind a truck on his skateboard ................. 13 4.7. Subtask 6 Martys dad punches Biff ........................................................................... 14 4.8. Primary Task The Delorean connects with the Clock Tower wire as lightening strikes. ............................................................................................................................ 16 5.1. 5.2. 5.3. 5.4. 5.5. 5.6. 6.1. 6.2. 7.1. 7.2. Design Process ...................................................................................................................... 17 Morphological Chart ........................................................................................................... 18 Gantt Chart ............................................................................................................................. 19 Construction Process.......................................................................................................... 19 Completing the Machine.................................................................................................... 21 Video ........................................................................................................................................ 22 Expenses ................................................................................................................................. 23 Labor Cost ............................................................................................................................... 24 Recommendations............................................................................................................... 27 Machine Summary ............................................................................................................... 27

5. Methodology and Procedure ...................................................................................... 17

6. Budget ................................................................................................................................ 22

7. Conclusion ........................................................................................................................ 26

1. Introduction
1.1. Problem Statement
Design and construct a functional Rube Goldberg Machine, based on the 1985 movie, Back To The Future. The machine is to have a specific starting task, primary task, and a set of subtasks. The machine also has a set of constraints that has to be followed.

1.2. Objectives
Design and construct a functional Rube Goldberg Machine that has the following components: Starting Task: Marty gets knocked over by the power of an amped up speaker. Subtasks (can be done in any order): Doc gets shot by the bad guys in the parking lot. Marty catches a ride behind a truck on his skateboard. The Delorean leaves fire tracks on the pavement. Martys dad punches Biff. Biff crashes his car into a manure truck. Marty gets hit by a car and meets his mom. Primary Task: The Delorean connects with the Clock Tower wire as lightening strikes.

2. Background
2.1. Rube Goldberg Machine
Rube Goldberg was an American inventor and cartoonist; he graduated from the University of California with a degree in Engineering. Goldberg was a Pulitzer prizewinner cartoonist for his extravagant cartoons. Not only did Goldberg draw cartoons he designed and built very complicated machines that accomplished a very simple task, which eventually was termed Rube Goldberg Machines after him (rubegoldberg.com). A Rube Goldberg machine is a complex device that accomplishes one or more simple tasks in a controlled, convoluted, and often humorous manner (University of Regina project outline).

3. Design Details
3.1. Limits and Constraints
The total running time for your machine must be at least 90 s and cannot exceed 120 s.

The machine must have at least 10 steps and no individual step can take longer than 15 s.

The project must be free standing.

Machine dimensions shall not exceed: 8 feet (L) x 4 feet (W) x 8 feet (H).

Total spending on materials shall not exceed $120

Hazardous materials/methods cannot be used without permission.

You must report your Run Time, Number of Iterations, Re-set Time, and Repeatability, and Costs.

All tasks must be completed in a distinct and sequential fashion. Parallel routes are allowed but tasks may not be executed simultaneously. The Primary Task must be completed last.

4. Design Specifications
On the 23rd of October we drew up a rough design of our machine.

Marty gets knocked over by speaker, doc gets shot.

Martys dad punches Biff, fire tracks, manure truck, skateboard/truck, Marty meets his mom. 6

Primary task

After construction, the machine looked like this:

Front view

Back View

4.1. Starting task (Marty gets knocked over by an amped up speaker)

Design: Machine:

The finished constructed design of the starting step was slightly altered from the original design. In the original design, the subwoofer knocks over a little figurine that represents Marty. In the machine, we replaced the figurine with a marble, and taped a track the center of the subwoofer. In the prototype of this step the track was taped to the top of the subwoofer, but we found that the vibrations are stringer when the track is taped to the center of the subwoofer. When a song is played with the subwoofer, it vibrates the track and the marble rolls down. The marble in this step represents Marty. We stuck toothpicks into the side of the track as sometimes the marble bounces quite a bit because of the vibrations, and the toothpicks ensures that it doesnt bounce off the track.

4.2. Subtask 1 Doc gets shot in the parking lot.

Design: Machine:

The finished constructed design is exactly as we designed it. A ball runs rolls down a track, trough a makeshift gun and hits a figurine (Doc Martin) in the face. The figurine then falls over, and hits another track with a marble resting at the top, which then

sets the marble in motion and it rolls down its own track. We taped the figurine to the side of the cardboard box we were building on top of, to ensure that it always falls in the same spot. The only thing we changed from the original design was the connecting step. In the design we were planning on using dominoes, but in the machine we used a track and a marble, as dominoes are somewhat unreliable and the marble was more convenient to use.

4.3. Subtask 2 Delorean Fire Tracks

Design: Machine:

The fire tracks were built according to the design, though the method of lighting the fire tracks was changed. The fire tracks were built on an aluminum-baking pan, and then the tracks were made with strips of aluminum foil. The strips were bent at the sides to make sure the fluid doesnt spill out. Aluminum was a good material to use as its inexpensive, durable and not flammable. Nail polish remover was then poured onto the foil tracks, as it is extremely flammable and burns clean without any noticeable smoke. In the original design, the fire tracks were to be lit

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using a mousetrap, which would have somehow lit a match. When the design was actually tested, it turned out to be much more complicated to do. Alternatively, we build a seesaw, with a lit candle on one end and a container on the other. When a marble is dropped into the container, it lifts the candle which then lights the fire tracks.

4.4. Subtask 3 Biff Crashes into Manure Truck

Design: Machine:

The manure truck step was build according to the design, though the scale idea was changed up for a seesaw, similar to the one that is used in Subtask 3 to light the fire tracks. The reason for this is that a scale like the one in the design would be difficult to find, and even more complex to build, whereas the seesaw idea is simple and reliable. On one end of the seesaw there is a container that contains a small hot wheels car, which represents Biffs car. On the other end of the seesaw, there are 5 dominoes taped together, just to keep the car lifted. The manure is

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inside a ziplock bag. The manure consisted of some grass and a rock. The bag containing the manure hangs from a frame built from old golf club sticks, and is hanging by fishing line, which is spun across the fire tracks. The manure is dropped when the fire tracks burns the fishing line. In the first tests of this step, we used stitching thread, but it broke easily and burned too fast, so we switched it to fishing line.

4.5. Subtask 4 Marty gets hit by a car and meets his mom
Design: Machine:

This step was built completely different from the design, because as the machine was being constructed it was too hard to build it as it was designed. In the design, a figurine (Marty) gets hit by a toy car. This causes Marty to fall off the edge and into a bed with a figurine representing his mom sitting next to the bed. This design was based very precisely off the movie, as the first time Marty meets his

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mom, he is waking up in a bed after being hit by a car. The problem with this design was that we were not up high enough to make this design work. What we did alternatively was to put Marty on the edge of a stack of empty dvd cases, with 4 dominoes behind him. The dominoes get knocked over when the seesaw from Subtask 3 gets lifted when the manure drops on Biffs car, which releases another marble that bumps into a wire that knocks over the dominoes. The dominoes go off and knock Marty off the edge of the DVD cases (represents Marty being hit by a car). Marty then lands next to a female figurine, which represents his mom.

4.6. Subtask 5 Marty catches a ride behind a truck on his skateboard

Design: Machine:

This step was build different from the first design, though it followed the second design of the rough final design exactly. We used a hot wheels car to represent the 13

truck, and a domino to represent the skateboard. The domino is attacked to the car with fishing line and tape. During the testing stage of this design, a toy skateboard was used, but it almost always got caught on something, so we switched it to a domino. The car and domino are resting on a track made of cardboard, and next to the car is a piece of aluminum foil that ensure that the car doesnt roll of the track. The piece of tin foil is tied to some fishing line that is attached to the Marty figurine in Subtask 4. When Marty falls off the edge of the DVD cases it pulls the piece of aluminum foil out and the car runs down the track and pulls the domino down with it. This step happens in parallel to a connecting step that happens right before Subtask 6.

4.7. Subtask 6 Martys dad punches Biff

Design: Machine:

Primary Design

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Secondary Design

Initially we were going to use the primary design for Subtask 6, but when the construction period started we found that the secondary design was easier to build and more practical. We used a tube that has a lid, and cut a slit about 4 inches from the end of the tube. We then put a card in the slit and put a spring between the card and the lid of the tube. When the card gets pulled out, the spring pops out and hits a DVD. The DVD is hanging from a frame that is exactly the same as the one in Subtask 4. The DVD represents Biff, so as the spring pops out and hits the DVD it represents Biff being punches by Martys dad. The card gets pulled out by a mousetrap, which is connected to Subtask 5, by some other connecting steps, which include a marble rolling through a funnel onto a half pipe constructed from pipe insulation. The half pipe has a hole cut into the bottom, so as the marble slows down, it falls through the hole, right onto the mousetrap.

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4.8. Primary Task The Delorean connects with the Clock Tower wire as lightening strikes.
Design: Machine:

The primary task was build according to the original design, though because we started to build the project too late, we didnt have enough time to add in all the components we designed it to have. In the design, the clock tower would be a box, that has a light on top of it, and an opening at the bottom. A ball would then roll through the opening, into a container inside the box, which would lower the box, which is attached to a pencil with string. As the box lowers it would spin the pencil, which would then spin the clock of the clock tower (symbolizing time travel). When the container reaches the bottom of the box, it would complete an electric circuit that would turn on the light (symbolizing the lighting). In the 16

machine, we put a strobe light on top of a box, and build a container to the side of it. We taped a tube to the side of the box and also made a slit in it similar to that of Subtask 7. We put a large marble in the tube and a card in the slit. When the card is pulled out, the large marble drops into the container to the side, which pushed down the switch of the strobe light, which is tied to a string, and the strobe light starts to flash.

5. Methodology and Procedure

5.1. Design Process

Our group has 6 members who all have their own unique perspectives on the project. We took advantage of this and had everyone brainstorm at least 2 ideas for every task and subtask that we had to complete. At a meeting we shared our ideas, and ranked them. Those with primary and secondary ideas then had the responsibility of making a list of materials required for their idea, as well as to build prototypes to make sure the ideas work. If a design didnt work we would use the secondary design or simply build something completely new. Our designs are justified because we made built prototypes and made sure our ideas worked and were reliable before we started construction on our machine. We also created a Facebook page, so that we could easily communicate and share ideas with our group members.

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Seesaw Prototype

Primary Task Prototype

5.2. Morphological Chart

Task Stating Task 1 Subwoofer Marble Doc gets shot Fire Tracks Marble Nail Polish Remover Manure Truck Bag of Dirt Dirt Bag of assorted materials giving it the look of Figurine 2 3 4 5

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manure Skateboard/Truck Toy skateboard Biff gets Punched Pendulum Marty gets hit by car and meets his mom Primary Task Tracks Light Bulb Pipe Insulation Strobe light Cardboard DC circuit Plastic Switch Marble Toy Car Spring Figurine Dominoes Domino Toy car

5.3. Gantt Chart

5.4. Construction Process

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Our approach to building the machine was to build it from start to finish. We soon found that this approach would take too much time, and as such split up and everyone worked to build his or her own ideas and designs. Those group members that didnt have primary ideas helped other group members who did. At one point during the construction of the machine, we had to change the order of the tasks, as we wanted to incorporate additional steps into the machine.

Order Before:

Order After:

Starting Task Fire Tracks

Starting task Martys dad punches biff

The reason that we added additional connecting steps was because our machine was running too fast (30 seconds to the end). After adding a significant amount of connecting steps our machine runs for a total of 1 minute and 5 seconds.

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5.5. Completing the Machine

The keys to making our final project successful with the constraints in mind was based upon the three main parts to our project which includes, design, modification of the design, and the tweaking of the final structures materials. We did not really take in mind any other constraints when designing the project because they were easily accomplished without us worrying too much about them. The biggest constraint that we had issues with was the time barrier. Time seems to just flow way to fast when you are trying for it not too. Our machine was very fast at the starting point but was easily manipulated with our three parts mentioned early. Our first part that helped us reach the final constraint of time and the completed project was the design of the project itself, we spent lots of time just doing the designing so that if for any reason the project went haywire, like it being too fast for example, we could then fix it with our design allowing for more to be added or to be manipulated. The design also helped us keep on track with our final goal when building the machine if we ever got lost and let us open our minds to more possible solutions to problems if we were to encounter them.

Our second part that helped us reach the final constraint of time and the design itself was the modification to the design itself. When we looked at the design at some parts it was either too unrealistic for it to work or we had to manipulate the design because of the table we used or the materials we had. Manipulation of designs is an important part in our

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final goal as without it, we would have still be on step 1 of our project trying to get it to work. We had to make things simpler at some steps, add new things in to the design to accommodate for time and we even at some parts made things more complex to look more visual stunning for our video.

The last part that helped us reach our final goal was the tweaking of the final structures materials. This probably took us the longest to do because it seemed that we had it at one point that everything would work except for one thing when we were trying to film it. We then thought of small things we could do to tweak our project enough to get it to work. Although the changes were minor, this was a huge part at achieving our final goal because if we did not do the tweaking and just kept trying over and over again at trying to get the project to work when we wanted it to, we would still be there even as I write this report so the tweaking was definitely a crucial point in us achieving our goal.

5.6. Video
It took us approximately 45 trials to get a complete run of our project. We were mainly getting stuck at Subtask 4, as the dominoes turned out to be quite unreliable. Because of the fact that some of our steps happen very fast consecutively, we used 4 cameras to film the machine at different places, as doing it with just one camera would have been impossible.

6. Budget

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6.1. Expenses
Materials Thread Toothpicks Funnel Lighter Scissors Marbles Tin Foil Dolls Rulers Aluminum Pan Exacto Knife Electrical Tape 2" Plastic Pipe Mouse Trap Fishing Line Cotton Sheet Stapler Tea light Duck Tape Quantities 1 1 Box 1 1 1 6 1 Box 2 2 2 1 2 3' 2 1 1 1 1 bag 2 Expenses Purchased or Donated

$1.00 Purchased $1.00 Donated $1.00 Donated $1.00 Donated $1.00 Donated $1.25 Purchased $1.55 Purchased $2.00 Donated $2.00 Purchased $2.00 Purchased $2.00 Donated $2.94 Donated $3.00 Donated $4.98 Donated $4.99 Donated $4.99 Donated $5.99 Donated $5.99 Donated $6.00 Donated

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Acetone Pipe insolation Dominos Wii Gun Flower Pots Sub Woofer (used) Strobe Light (used) Hot wheels cars (used)

6oz. 16' 1 Box 1 4 1 1 $8

$6.99 Purchased $7.50 Donated $8.99 Donated $12.99 Donated $23.96 Donated $30.00 Donated $10.00 Donated $20.00 Donated

Expense Total

$175.11

$13.24

Labour (20.00/HR)

127hrs

$2,540.00

Total Cost

$2,715.11

$13.24

In total we only spent $13.24 on our project, as the majority of our materials were things that our group members had in their houses. If we were to buy everything we used, we would have spent approximately $175.11. The costs in the table are actual costs that were paid for the materials.

6.2. Labor Cost

Labor Cost (in hours) Abdulmajeed Nicolene Zachery Brandon Brenden Tanner

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Brainstorming 2 Group Meetings Starting Task Doc Gets Shot Fire Tracks 0 2 4 4

4 4

4 3

3 4

2 3

4 3

2 2

2 4

2 4

2 4

2 4

2 1 0

0 0 3

0 0 0

0 0 0

0 1 3

Manure Truck 0 Skateboard Truck Marty Meets His Mom Martys Dad Punches Biff Primary Task Videos Report Total (hours) Total ($20/h) 320 0 3 0 16 1 0 0

0 4 8 28

2 3 1 26

0 1 1 16

0 0 0 12

3 3 1 29

560

520

320

240

580

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7. Conclusion
The design of our Rube Goldberg machine very much strayed from the original plans that we had for the project. We managed to incorporate all our tasks and follow most of the constraints. As we began to build the project we noticed that some things just werent going to work, and had to develop many alternatives on the spot to cater to the problems we had encountered. We noticed that every person in the group looked at each piece of the project in a different way. This is a very useful characteristic about working in a group that we embraced, and realized that someone elses idea might make a tremendous improvement on the design that another person had developed. We also realized that it was difficult to make every piece of the project to work in sequence. When we were building the project we tested each step separately to see if it was going to work and almost all the time it worked. But when we went to film the final project we soon realized that it was going to be more complicated than we thought. It was frustrating when everything would work except for one connector step and we would have to set up everything again, and even adjust a few of the steps that we had to compensate for these changes. We did not always agree on every step of the design process but we let each person voice his or her opinion before making our decision. One of the most useful tools that our group had was the use of the Facebook group that we had created. This way we could test the ideas that we had to see if our ideas were going to work and post pictures/videos and comments. The Facebook group allowed each group member to be connected to the group even if they were not able to attend a meeting. Every person in our group had a different skill set and we used these skills of each person to our advantage. Overall I think our group experience in the designing of our project has had a

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positive effect on our view of group work and has helped everyone in our group realize that each individual opinion matters and should be taken into consideration in the design process.

7.1. Recommendations
Recommendations for this project would be to start earlier on the construction, as we ran out of time and couldnt finish our project as well as we wanted to. Another recommendation would be to not use dominoes, as they are very unpredictable and unreliable

7.2. Machine Summary

Total Runtime: 1 Minute, 5 seconds Total Steps: 8 Total Connecting Steps: 4 Total Cost: $175.11 Total Hours Spent Working: 127

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