Category: Uncategorized

What is a Rube Goldberg Machine?

A Rube Goldberg machine, named after American cartoonist Reuben Garrett Lucius Goldberg, is a machine designed to perform a simple task in an indirect and overly complicated way. Usually, these machines consist of a series of simple unrelated devices, one example could be the pulley. The pulley can change the direction of force, for example, one side of the pulley would be heavier than the other side will start moving up, in this case, the weight of the object is a marble. Usually, a Rube Goldberg machine has a goal, the goal could be getting the marble from point A to point B, or it could perform a simple task.

 

Origin

The Rube Goldberg machine was named after the American cartoonist Reuben Garrett Lucius Goldberg, best known as Rube Goldberg. Rube Goldberg was born in San Francisco (July 4, 1883) and died in New York in (December 7, 1970). Rube Goldberg’s cartoons were based on complicated gadgets that could perform simple tasks indirectly.  Goldberg is the inspiration for international competitions known as Rube Goldberg Machine Contest which challenges participants to create a complicated machine to perform a simple task.

 

This picture is an inspiration of what I might want to do, this shows a Rube Goldberg machine mounted on a wall. I chose this picture as an inspiration because I really like how not only does it look simple but I like all the elements on this Rube Goldberg contraption, but I would like to make a few changes to some tracks and extend the Rube Goldberg machines with dominoes, more chain reaction, etc.

 

 

 

Sources:

 

“Learn about the Contests.” RUBE Goldberg, 2018 – Rube Goldberg, www.rubegoldberg.com/. Accessed 1 Mar. 2020.

“Rube Goldberg.” Wikipedia, 27 Feb. 2020, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rube_Goldberg_machine. Accessed 1 Mar. 2020.

Woodford, Chris. “Pulleys.” Explain That Stuff, Explain that Stuff, 17 July 2019, www.explainthatstuff.com/pulleys.html. Accessed 1 Mar. 2020.

As Project Collision shifted due to the Covid-19 virus from a collaborative school project to an individual home project, a big challenge that I faced was finding the right material for my parachute, this was a very large problem considering if I did not find the right supplies for my parachute it could have affected my data I was gathering. To overcome this challenge, I found some of the supplies that were required for my parachute, at first, I thought that I did not have enough, but when I finished building, I still had so much left.

Before this project, I used to think that I would not finish in time due to the Covid-19 virus and also the lack of time due to the holiday, but now I think that I am on a good track keeping up with everyone else in my group and I feel more confident.  For example, I thought that the Blog Posts were going to take up a lot of time and take out the time for building the parachute, but in the end, I managed to handle the Blog Posts well and could keep up with my group.

Looking back on Project Collision, I learned that collecting multiple pieces of data is important during this process. For example, if you are trying to find accurate data testing numerous times and finding the average makes your data more accurate. One area where data supported my thinking was, although the speed increased a bit the accuracy seemed like it was getting better as the parachute size increased, and my data set in my data table supported my thinking.

Project Collision 5

 

 

Although it has been quite a challenge, for example, school is still temporarily closed due to the coronavirus, I managed to solve all my problems lately. Our company, Technical, promises fast and efficient delivery. Within your package you will receive tech accessories that you have ordered, we promise our products will not get damaged in the process. To ensure that the package is safe, my partner and I are building prototype parachutes to test which size the parachute is the best for landing softly and accurately. Our goal is to drop the package within 50cm close to the target, which we have conducted several tests at home.

The items held constant in the trials were the material of the string, the length of string and the material of the parachute. The material of the string was yarn in substitute for the fishing line, the material of parachute was LDPE plastic which we decided was a substitute for nylon. A change in our design iterations is the size of the parachute which my partner and I have decided the parachute size to be 38cm, 48cm, and 58 cm in diameter.

The bottom parachute is the 58cm parachute in diameter, the constant is the strings and the material of the canopy, I did not really have any challenges during the production process. The parachute at the top is 48cm in diameter the material is also the same as the 58cm parachute,  again there were no issues during the production process. The 38cm parachute is the parachute at the top, the parachute canopy was not transparent but still, the same material and the strings were not yarn but a substitute for yarn. For this first design, I had some trouble finding the right type of string but eventually found some. I thought my sister did not let me use her yarn when I made the parachute, but after persuading a lot I got yarn for my second and third designs (48cm and 58cm).

 

This data table includes the size of the parachute in diameter, (38cm, 48cm, and 58cm) the speed of fall in meters per second, the three trials, the averages and medians from the drops, and the accuracy of the fall (Left, Right, Center)

A challenge I faced with the drops was if my trials were accurate, so I had to re-test a lot in order for my data to be correct. A positive from my drops was that I had enough materials for my drops. If I ran out of LDPE then I would have had to either use another type of material or just restart and test with another material. For the 38cm parachute the average was 1.67 m/s and the median was 1.68 m/s, the average for the parachute that was 48cm was 1.31 m/s and the median was 1.35 m/s, the average for the 58cm parachute was 1.32 m/s and the median was 1.26 m/s. For the drops for the 58cm and 48cm parachute, there were some outliers in the data set, the data set from the 58cm parachute was 1.05, 1.26, and 1.66, the minimum and maximum are both outliers. The data set for the 48cm parachute was 1.4, 1.17, and 1.35, the minimum and maximum are also outliers. The reason that there might have been outliers might have depended on when the parachute deployed, because when the parachute is deployed later in the drop the speed will increase, but if the parachute deploys at the start the speed decreases.

 

Claim: The larger the parachute the more accurate the parachute drops

Evidence:When I started testing my first parachute, I realized that the parachute did not land anywhere near the target. Since the spill hole lets the parachute land more accurate by letting some air through the hole, but still landing slowly. This reflects it might have meant the spill hole was too small, so that it did not land that accurate. When I tested the 48cm and 58cm parachute I realized that it was much more accurate when it dropped, when I started testing both they were starting to land within the 50cm range.

 

 

 

48cm:                                 58cm:

 

Trial 1 = Left/50cm              Trial 1 = Center/50cm

Trial 2 = Center/50cm         Trial 2 = Center

Trial 3 = Center/Right          Trial 3 = Left center/50cm

 

Reasoning: The reason why this could be happening is that the spill hole increased during each build, so the accuracy got better. This relates to Newton’s 3^rd Law: For every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. For example, since when I added a parachute to the box, the drop velocity decreased.  This meant that when the parachute dropped the air resistance was letting the parachute drag or slow down, the spill hole is to let the air resistant pass through so not only does it drop slower, but it becomes more accurate when the box drops.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Project Collision 4

 

In the design cycle, there are three stages to pass, each stage will have a reflection. I am currently at the third stage, Create and improve. Our company, Technical, promises fast and efficient delivery, within your package you will receive tech accessories that you have ordered in the box, we promise our products will not get damaged in the process. To ensure that the package is safe, my partner and I are building prototype parachutes to test which size the parachute is the best for landing softly but accurate. Our goal is to drop the package within 50cm close to the target. Currently, due to the Coronavirus, I am having trouble accessing some information at school and also having trouble working with my partner since we are not allowed to go out, so my partner and I have decided to make our prototypes by ourselves, which also is a small problem for my partner but eventually he figured it out, I have no variables to change since I have the materials I need.

 

Procedures:

1. Person A set up iPhone so that it is at an angle so that the camera can see the railing to the target (4 large steps back from the target center
2. Person B adjust the arm or bamboo stick so that the positioning of the parachute is aligned center of the target
3. Person B hook the hook on the package onto the bamboo stick and start final readjustment
4. Start recording count down (3, 2, 1)
5. Count down for three seconds after the recording count down (3, 2, 1, GO)
6. Person B let the bamboo stick go at an angle down so the package can drop
7. Wait until the package has met the ground then stop video
8. Put the video in logger pro
9. Analyze data and record into the data table
10. Then record which side the package landed (Right, left, center)
11. Repeat steps 1-12 with the other two variables

 

This is my data table after I dropped the parachute. The independent variable that I am changing is the size of the parachute (38cm, 48cm, 58cm diameter) and the dependent variable on my data table is the speed of the fall (m/s and the accuracy of the fall (Left, Right Center). For the speed of fall, I did three trials for each size to make my drop speed accurate, for the 38cm (diameter) the average was -1.66 m/s the accuracy was not good since they all landed out, for the 48cm (diameter) the average speed was -1.3 m/s, the accuracy was better than the 38cm parachute since the spill hole increased, for the 58cm (diameter) the average of the speed of fall was -1.32 m/s, the accuracy was very good and it landed center / 50cm two times and landed left-center / 50cm one time.

Materials:

• LDPE Plastic
• Box
• 8 strings

 

Dimensions (diameter):

• 38cm
• 48cm
• 58cm

 

Since the Coronavirus situation is very serious, I had to change somethings. One thing I had to change was the box, I could not find the box with the same dimension, but I got the box that was about the same weight as the box and the item. I also had to change the material of the strings since I did not have the fishing line, so instead, I got yarn instead to substitute the fishing line.

 

 

My drop zone is located outside my back yard, 5 meters high from the porch to the ground. My sister and I will use a long bamboo stick to adjust the positioning and the box determines the landing spot, the landing boxes are 1 by 1 meter, 50cm by 50cm, and the center marked by the flowerpot.

Some challenges I will face are the materials for the parachute so I might modify the material such as the fishing line to the closest yarn since that might be the only thing, I have that is flexible in my house. And for the parachute canopy I will use the baggage claim bags that are transparent. Also, a challenge is the weather climate if it is going to be windy or not since that will also affect the landing point of the parachute and the package.

 

Some constraints I have is the space for me to take the video and the distance between the package and the window behind it since the package can hit the window, also if the weather is windy outside I might have to wait until it settles.

Project Collision 2

 

Our company, Technical, promises fast and efficient delivery, within your package you will receive tech accessories that you have ordered in the box, we promise our products will not get damaged in the process. To ensure that the package is safe, my partner and I are studying how the size of a parachute affect the drop velocity while descending, our goal is to drop the package within 50cm close to the target.

 

Claim: We believe that the larger the parachute size is, the slower the package descends.

 

Evidence: In the previous blog post, the average time of all the three drops was 2.0 seconds. My partner and I believe that the larger the parachute size is, the slower the package drops. In our research we found out that the size of the parachute does affect the speed of falling because the larger a parachute is, the greater drag force there is, (or in other words, it allows it to displace more air, causing it to fall more slowly.) If an object falls without a parachute it will fall quickly.

Sources: 

Buddies, Science. “Skydiving Science: Does the Size of a Parachute Matter?” Scientific American, 2020 SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN, A DIVISION OF SPRINGER NATURE AMERICA, INC., 6 Sept. 2012, www.scientificamerican.com/article/bring-science-home-parachute/. Accessed 21 Jan. 2020. 

“Skydiving.” The Physics Classroom, 1996-2020 The Physics Classroom, www.physicsclassroom.com/mmedia/newtlaws/sd.cfm. Accessed 21 Jan. 2020.  

         UCSB Science Line. The Regents of the University of California, scienceline.ucsb.edu/getkey.php?key=3575. Accessed 21 Jan. 2020. 

 

This data table shows the independent and dependent variables. The dependent variables are the speed of fall (m/s) and the accuracy of fall (Left or Right). The independent variable is the size we are changing in diameter, 38cm, 48cm, and 58cm.

This is our design plan for our parachute, these are the design constants:

• Parachute shape= circle
• Number of ropes= 8
• Length of ropes= 40cm
• Number of spill holes= 1
• Number of parachutes= 1
• The material of parachute= plastic
• The material of ropes= fishing line

Our variable that we will change throughout the three drops is the size of the parachutes, small, medium, large. Size 1 will be 38 cm in diameter, size 2 will be 48cm in diameter, size 3 will be 58cm in diameter.

 

Procedures:

1. Set up iPad
2. Adjust arm of the dropper
3. Adjust the hook
4. Switch on the black box (controller)
5. Turn on the remote controller
6. Hook package onto the hook
7. Start recording before counting down
8. Count down for three seconds
9. Press the “R’ button at the top right area
10. Stop video put the video in logger pro
11. Analyze data and record into data table
12. Repeat steps 1-12 with the other two variables

 

Drone deliveries are gradually providing companies faster delivery services, but problems happen all the time. For example, people oftentimes complain that drones land on their property. So, our team and I have come up with a way to solve this problem by dropping the package higher above the ground without damaging the package. We delivered tech accessories because a lot of people in our tech society use a lot of technology.

 

Our investigation will study how the parachute size affects the accuracy and speed when the package is descending. Before we start testing our prototype, we did some research. This study aims to let the package slow down by increasing the parachute size. My partner and I think that the best size will be a medium to large parachute, According to Kids Discover the larger the parachute is, the greater air resistance there is to slow down the parachute while descending. My partner and I will eventually decide the size of the parachute once the research is finished.

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Before testing out the sizes, our group tested dropping the box itself, this was called the Drop Zero test, after the test we collect data from that drop so that we can compare the drop velocity between Drop Zero and the final drop to see if we have managed to slow down the parachute.

Claim:  The average speed of the drops from 1 to 3 was 3.9508 m/s, which means that the package dropped an average of 2.0249063481 seconds while falling down 8 meters.

 

Evidence: The first drops average speed was 2.991725, the second drops average speed was 5.195125 m/s, the third drops average speed was 3.6655 m/s. add 2.991725m/s, 5.195125m/s and 3.6655m/s then divide it by 3 then the average becomes 3.9508m/s, to find the average amount of seconds of the fall divide 8 by 3.9508m/s it becomes 2.0249063481 seconds.

 

Reasoning:  Often people think that the mass affects the drop velocity to drop faster, but mass does not affect speed directly due to gravity. It determines how quickly an object can change speed (accelerate) under the action of a given force. Lighter objects need less time to change speed by a given amount under a given force.

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Our company, Technical, promises fast and efficient delivery, within your package you will receive tech accessories that you have ordered in the box, we promise our products will not get damaged in the process. The next step to meeting this design criteria is that we will collect data on the parachute size, shape, etc. With our delivery service delivering packages will be faster and more efficient.

 

 

 

 

 

Sources:

• https://www.kidsdiscover.com/teacherresources/parachutes-gravity-air-resistance/
• https://www.explainthatstuff.com/how-parachutes-work.html
• https://www.physicsclassroom.com/mmedia/newtlaws/sd.cfm

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Imagine, if you were surrounded by water that goes down to about 30 meters deep, collapsing buildings tumbling one after another, but you just think It’s never going to happen. 14-year-old Li Yang and his best friend Zu Lin have no place to take shelter as the buildings collapse down into the deep dark blue water bellow there feet, they have no choice but to try and survive. But one night Li Yang dreams of hearing a voice and telling him to find The Pearl of Orient, but the dream did not last long and once he woke up his life soon would change forever.

 

To find out more about this adventure click here

What I learned

Looking back on Project Self, I learned that when we make decisions as a community, we sometimes can’t agree on the final decision. For example, some people have different angles of looking at things, but not everyone has the same idea, if everyone had the same idea then no new ideas can be created, and nothing can be new. So that is why agreeing with the whole group can be somewhat challenging to deal with when you are working as a group.

Big idea

Looking back on Project Self, I realize that for me making choices can sometimes be pretty challenging. For example, I sometimes think to myself, when I act does it benefit me, and how does it affect the people around me? Or when I act does it benefit me but also keeps me off task? These are some of the questions I sometimes ask myself. To be honest, sometimes I don’t even process those question first, I just do what benefits me, that is what I find challenging.