How to build a Rube Goldberg Machine

Welcome to the wacky world of Rube Goldberg. The Rube Goldberg Machine Contest (RGMC) has come a long way from its humble beginnings as an inter-fraternity contest. By participating, you help promote the value of education to young people everywhere. The series of contests which make up the whole of the RGMC are specially designed for this purpose. Of course, the most important goal has always been to challenge students to take a few steps back from reality, gain a new perspective on how things work, and have fun making the most complicated, roundabout device to complete a simple task. This is the essence of the RGMC.

As with any ambitious venture, there are two aspects to the contest. Someone must run each contest and someone must compete. This guide will explore each side. We will address a number of questions, including: What is the contest? Why does it go on? How does one arrange a contest, get contestants, find a space to compete, and get the money to do all this? What is a Rube Goldberg Machine? What does it look like? How much time will I have to invest? How do these people come up with these off-the-wall ideas?

We will begin with the most basic component of the contest.

The Rube Goldberg machines you build are different from the machines people are used to seeing. A good Rube Goldberg machine incorporates the everyday machines people are used to seeing and connects them in ways that may seem idiotic or ingenious. It is your mission to construct a machine that uses at least 20 individual steps to complete an assigned task, which varies from year to year.

Your machine may take some time to put together. Many machines undergo months of strategy and planning; other are put together in a few days.

Over the years, the machines that have done best seem to be those that arrive at the contest site in sections, as opposed to pieces. The less work that has to be done to assemble your machine at the site, the better. Too often, things that work perfectly in the workshop break down during the trip to the contest site. Most machines arrive in two or three pieces. A platform should be constructed for the machine with a simple and secure way to fasten it together; typical platforms are made of plywood and two-by-fours. Steps that bridge machine sections should be easy to connect. The rest of the machine is up to you.

Each team plans its machine in its own way. Some teams try to plan their whole machine before starting to build it; others just dive in head first. Maybe the best way is to use a little of both approaches. In the end, you will need a detailed description of the machine for the contest judges, and as you'll see, much of your early plans for the machine will have changed by the time you finish building it.

The materials you use are the most important components of the machine. See what you have around the house, raid your old toy chest, pick up all those appliances Dad has been meaning to fix, but most importantly, USE THEM. Anything goes when you are building a Rube Goldberg machine. Rube knew no bounds when he created his machines, and you should take the same attitude. Follow the adage ''Nothing is impossible, if you try." Your imagination is your only limit.

Услуги Генподрядчика Киев от строительной компании ВестБудИнвест