Rube Goldberg Machine

This project consists of 4 teams of 4 members using electrical and mechanical work to move a ball in a cycle from its initial position back to the start, with our machine having a candy theme. Each team created their own component and at the end compiled them all together to create the full cycle. My team created a Candyland house where the ball enters the house and goes down three inclined chutes before exiting to the next component. We used an RC circuit to drive a DC motor that spun to release the ball down the first chute while simultaneously spinning colorful pipe cleaners out of the chimney as well as an Arduino microcontroller to play amusement park music, upon the ball's entry into the house.

Rube Goldberg Machine: Image

Here is the schematic for the Arduino. The code input has it play the song for 10 seconds, just over the duration of the ball's visit in the Candyland house. The process begins when the ball rolled over the buzzer seen in the diagram, which is placed colinearly to the first chute. The buzzer is extended by soldering wire connections, allowing the Arduino board to lay on flat ground as the first chute is elevated near the top floor.

Rube Goldberg Machine: Image

Here is the circuit schematic for the RC circuit that drove the DC motor. It had a time constant of 10 seconds through a 1000 microfarad capacitor and a 10 Kiloohm resistor.

Rube Goldberg Machine: Image

This is the physical circuit board of the RC circuit and its DC motor.

Rube Goldberg Machine: Image

This is the layout for the interior of the Candyland house.

Rube Goldberg Machine: Image

This is the exterior of the house before being connected to the other components, which create the full Rube Goldberg machine.

Rube Goldberg Machine: Image

Complete Motion of Machine

Rube Goldberg Machine: Video