We were assigned to create an energy-transferring device in Science Class within 2 weeks, and this blog post is dedicated to researching projects that might interest me. I’ve finalized my choices and given my perspective on them. The 4 choices are air raid siren, water wheel, magnetic train, and Rube Goldberg machine.

Project Ideas:

Air Raid Siren

This is a very interesting project. It’s an Air raid siren. This siren reminds me of an air raid siren called Carter’s air raid siren in WW2, which the British used for warning air strikes from the Germans. The video shows detailed instructions and components for building the air raid siren.

Energy Transfer: Chemical -> Electrical -> Mechanical -> Sound

Pros:  

• It’s an interesting project to make 
• Doesn’t require much electronic skill
• Very simple parts (Battery, Motor, Switch, fan, the stand) 

Cons: 

• Requires some degree of 3D modeling skills 
• It takes a lot of time to 3D model the parts 
• Measurement needs to be exact for everything to fit 
• Might need to buy materials online  

Audience: Mainly for Educational purposes, especially schools for teaching air disturbances and proving to companies that air raid sirens can be manufactured by 3D printing rather than conventionally using steel.

Skill used: 3D printing, Simple electronics

Difficulty: 4 / 5 

Time Needed: 4.5/5

Water Wheel

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7eSyXK2sVGA

This video isn’t very detailed for building the water wheel. However, if I’m interested, I can do more research.

Energy Transfer: Mechanical -> Mechanical

Pros: 

• Very simple, and could be completed in a very short time 
• Easy to access materials 

Cons:  

• Could encounter many problems along the way

Audience: Educational purposes (schools), teaching children about how waterwheel works.

Skill used: Cutting, assembling parts

Difficulty: 3/5 

Time Needed: 3/5 

Magnetic Train

Very interesting, it’s like how a magnet train works. This project is very simple. Hence, it doesn’t require detailed instructions for building this project.

Energy Transfer: Magnetic -> Mechanical

Pros:  

• Very simple and interesting 
• Requires little materials 
• Requires little time

Cons: 

• Could be too easy 

Audience: Educational purposes, especially for children, teaching them about magnets. It could be used for aesthetic purposes in places as the train will never stop (maybe after a million years it will).

Skill used: None

Difficulty: 1/5 

Time Needed: 1/5 

Rube Goldberg Machine

Rube Goldberg Machines are very interesting. This video is a only demonstration of the Rube Goldberg machine in action. It doesn’t have detailed instructions for building the machine. However, if I choose to do this project, I can research it more, and take different aspect of different machines and apply it to my machine.

Energy Transfer: Gravitational -> Mechanical

Pros:

• Straightforward idea
• Requires little time

Cons:

• Certain parts of the Rube Goldberg might need to acquire it from home or online
• Needs precise measurements

Audience: Educational purposes, especially for early year children to demonstrate energy transfer

Skill used: Precise measurements and planning of the machine

Difficulty: 3.5/5

Time needed: 4/5