Friday, April 22, 2016

Group Rube Goldberg

Group Rube Goldberg:

1. Video of your Rube Goldberg setup

Explanation of group Rube Goldberg

2. Videos of your Rube Goldberg in action; one fail, one success.

Failed Rube Goldberg attempt.

Successful Attempt

Monday, April 18, 2016

Ben's Individual Rube Goldberg #2

Individual Rube Goldberg #2

1. Provide an updated drawing of your set up.


2. Explain your setup.

Our Rube Goldberg project starts with an input voltage coming from the previous group into my part of the Rube Goldberg. The signal will trip a relay in my project and cause a motor to turn. The motor will shorten a string attached to it. As the string shortens it will turn a fan blade that has a stopping bar on it. As the blade turns the bar is raised allowing a Lego car to roll down a ramp and hit a marble. The marble will roll down a coarse and fall off the table into a basket, the basket will be attached to a block that will fall over onto a switch. The switch will be the beginning of Matt's set up.

3. Provide photos of the circuit and setup.

Add caption
Add caption


4. Provide at least 2 new videos of your setup in action, one being a failed attempt.



5. What failures did you have? How did you overcome them?



6. Explain your group RG setup.



7. Video of a test run of your group RG.




Sunday, April 17, 2016

Matt's Individual Rube Goldberg 2

Individual Rube Goldberg:

1. Provide the computer drawing for your individual RG setup.



2. Explain your setup.

My circuit will be engaged by a simple switch. Ben should have something that physically pushes the switch. When the switch is closed, it will run a certain voltage value through a relay, which will be higher than the threshold voltage (6v). On the output end of the relay will be a motor that will spin and knock over some dominos. The dominos will trail towards a styrofoam ball. Once the ball is struck, it will fall down a track onto one end of a seesaw, lifting the other end. On the other end, there will be a thumbtack, which will rise and strike, hopefully popping, a balloon. The balloon explosion then should knock over the dominos of the person after me, engaging their circuit.


3. Provide photos of the circuit and setup.
This is a picture of my circuit. It has a switch connected to a relay, which is connected to a motor. 




4. Provide at least two videos of your setup in action, one being a failed attempt.
This is a video showing that the circuit does in fact trip the relay and spin the motor when the switch is pushed.
This is a video showing how the teeter-totter set up should work.

This is a video showing that the styrofoam ball would not be heavy enough to pop the balloon. Failure attempt
The styrofoam was replaced with a marble and the track was made skinnier. Successful attempt at popping the balloon.




5. What failures did you have? How did you overcome them?

My first and most frequent failure was arranging the balloon to the proper position. The pin would either hit the balloon and bounce right back down without popping it, or it would pop the balloon successfully, but the dominos behind the balloon would not fall over. I overcame the balloon not popping situation by filling the balloon with air to the point where the slightest contact with the pin would force it to pop. I have yet to figure out a way of making something physical happen with dominos after the popping of the balloon.

My biggest problem with my RG set up is that the circuit is too basic for a circuits class. I tried to use a touch sensor to trip the relay but it was not working with me. I have added an LED to show when the power is switched on. I'm thinking about adding a timer before the motor begins to spin, to add more time and circuitry to my set up. 

6.  Group task: Explain your group RG set up.

Ben will begin by receiving a voltage source from someone before him. When his circuit powers on, a motor will pull a string attached to a fan. When the fan is pulled, a lego barrier will be lifted, allowing a toy car to roll down a hill, where it will hit a marble. The marble will roll down a lego track. It will fall down a ramp, where it will strike my switch, hopefully with enough force. The switch will power on my circuit, allowing my motor to hit the dominos over, reaching a point where the dominos knock a bar into a marble, causing the marble to fall down the track and land on the teeter-totter device. On the opposite end of the teeter totter is a thumbtack, which will pop a balloon, hopefully causing another set of dominos to fall over. 

7. Video of a test run of your group RG. 

We have yet to make a video together, as we are working on making a way for bens marble to trigger the switch with a good amount of force. This is more difficult than it seems but I think we can figure it out.

Sunday, April 10, 2016

Ben's Individual Rube Goldberg

Individual Rube Goldberg:

1. Provide the computer drawing for your individual RG setup.



2. Explain your setup.

My Rube Goldberg set up starts with a DC voltage signal coming off of Austin's project. Because his signal will be a high voltage, low current signal it will immediately switch over a relay so reset the power input to a more standard level. The relay will turn off a LED and start a DC motor. The motor will wind up some floss that is acting like string. The floss will pull on the fan blades, causing the stopping block in front of the car to be removed. The car will roll down the track and will knock a marble down a Lego track. Once at the bottom the marble will roll and hit the touch sensor to start Matt's project.

3. Provide photos of the circuit and setup.

Circuit setup for the Rube Goldberg project


4. Provide at least two videos of your setup in action, one being a failed attempt.




This is a test of the 'mechanical side of my Rube Goldberg project


5. What failures did you have? How did you overcome them?

I had an issue with getting the vehicle to go down the ramp without falling off and without stopping short of knocking over the marble. I changed the tricycle style bike into a makeshift car with four wheels so it would not veer off the ramp all the time, and I adjusted the ramp and the platform after it so the car would travel farther.

Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Matt's Individual Rube Goldberg

Individual Rube Goldberg:

1. Provide the computer drawing for your individual RG setup.



2. Explain your setup.

My circuit will be engaged by a simple switch. Ben should have something that physically pushes the switch. When the switch is closed, it will run a certain voltage value through a relay, which will be higher than the threshold voltage (6v). On the output end of the relay will be a motor that will spin and knock over some dominos. The dominos will trail towards a styrofoam ball. Once the ball is struck, it will fall down a track onto one end of a seesaw, lifting the other end. On the other end, there will be a thumbtack, which will rise and strike, hopefully popping, a balloon. The balloon explosion then should knock over the dominos of the person after me, engaging their circuit.


3. Provide photos of the circuit and setup.



4. Provide at least two videos of your setup in action, one being a failed attempt.



5. What failures did you have? How did you overcome them?