Crazy Contraption

A boot kicks a bowling ball, causing it to roll down a ramp. The ball knocks over a bowling pin, tugging a rope that swings open the door of a birdcage. That triggers a series of other objects to bump, crash, and spin into one another. Finally, a weight drops on a scale, lifting a hand to flip a switch that turns on a light bulb.

If this sounds complicated, well . . . that’s the point! This wacky device is a Rube Goldberg Machine. It’s a contraption engineered to perform a simple task—like flipping a light switch—in an extremely convoluted way. Every year, thousands of students build their own versions of these wacky devices and enter them in the Rube Goldberg Machine Contest. The finals are held in the spring at a giant event hall in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. Judges award points for inventiveness and for how well a machine completes a given task using at least 10 steps in under two minutes.

Last year, eighth-grader Olivia Remenji entered the contest’s middle school division with six other homeschooled students from Champaign, Illinois. Their team built a machine that took 32 steps to drop a coin into a piggy bank. They planned and tested their design carefully. Still, when it came time to show the judges, the team was nervous. Olivia says, “I remember crossing my fingers like, ‘Will this work?’”

A boot kicks a bowling ball, and the ball rolls down a ramp. It knocks over a bowling pin. The pin tugs a rope that swings open a birdcage door. That sets off a series of other objects. They bump, crash, and spin into one another. Finally, a weight drops on a scale, lifting a hand. It flips a switch that turns on a light bulb.

This sounds complicated. But that’s the point! This wacky device is a Rube Goldberg Machine. It’s a contraption designed to perform a simple task, like flipping a light switch. But it does so in an extremely complex way. Every year, thousands of students build their own wacky devices. They enter them in the Rube Goldberg Machine Contest. The finals are held each spring at a giant event hall in Lawrenceburg, Indiana. Judges award points for creativity and how well a machine performs. It must complete a task in under two minutes using at least 10 steps.

Last year, eighth-grader Olivia Remenji entered the contest’s middle school division. Her team included six other homeschooled students from Champaign, Illinois. They built a machine with 32 steps. It dropped a coin into a piggy bank. They planned and tested their design carefully. But when they had to show the judges, the team was nervous. Olivia says, “I remember crossing my fingers like, ‘Will this work?’”

Rube Goldberg was an engineer and cartoonist known for drawing goofy inventions. His imaginative machines used chain reactions of everyday objects to perform tasks like peeling an egg or opening an umbrella. Goldberg didn’t actually build most of these contraptions. But since his death in 1970, people have made thousands of machines inspired by his drawings.

Most Rube Goldberg devices rely on simple machines, such as pulleys, inclined planes, and levers. Simple machines use the laws of physics to make it easier to move objects. Pulleys, for example, consist of a wheel with a grooved rim that a rope runs through. They reduce the amount of force required to raise a heavy load.

Rube Goldberg was an engineer and cartoonist. He was known for drawing goofy inventions. His wacky machines used chain reactions of everyday objects. They performed tasks like peeling an egg or opening an umbrella. Goldberg didn’t really build most of these contraptions. But since his death in 1970, his drawings have inspired people. They’ve made thousands of machines like his.

Most Rube Goldberg devices depend on simple machines. These include pulleys, inclined planes, and levers. Simple machines use the laws of physics. They make it easier to move objects. For example, pulleys are made of a wheel with a grooved rim. A rope runs through the rim. Pulleys reduce the amount of force needed to raise a heavy load.

Rube Goldberg Machine makers link many of these simple devices into elaborate compound machines. “It’s amazing what these kids come up with,” says Kathleen Felix of Rube Goldberg Inc., which runs the annual contest.

Rube Goldberg Machine makers connect many of these simple devices. They form complicated compound machines. “It’s amazing what these kids come up with,” says Kathleen Felix of Rube Goldberg Inc., which runs the yearly contest.

What makes a winning machine? First, it should be creative, says mechanical engineer Regan Couch. As a student at Purdue University in Indiana, she led her school’s Rube Goldberg team. They would start brainstorming ideas for their contraption months before a contest at the college level.

What makes a winning machine? First, it should be creative, says mechanical engineer Regan Couch. She led her school’s Rube Goldberg team. That was when she was a student at Purdue University in Indiana. The team brainstormed ideas for their contraption. They started months before a college-level contest.

A contraption should also work without any intervention from team members, says Couch. To make sure the machines can function on their own, teams need to fine-tune each step. Different simple machines help harness the forces in each part of a contraption. A ball rolling down an inclined plane speeds up thanks to the downward pull of gravity, for example. A lever can turn a downward push into an upward force to lift another object.

One of Couch’s favorite tools is a mousetrap. This spring-loaded device holds a lot of stored potential energy. When the mousetrap snaps, its potential energy turns into kinetic energy. This energy of motion can set another object flying, falling, or whizzing through the machine.

A contraption should also work on its own, says Couch. Team members shouldn’t have to step in. To make sure of this, teams must fine-tune each step. Different simple machines help control the forces in each part of a contraption. For example, a ball rolls down an inclined plane. It speeds up because of the downward pull of gravity. A lever can turn a downward push into an upward force. Then it can lift another object.

A mousetrap is one of Couch’s favorite tools. This spring-loaded device holds much stored potential energy. When the mousetrap snaps, its potential energy turns into kinetic energy. That’s the energy of motion. It can set another object flying, falling, or zipping through the machine.

Because a Rube Goldberg Machine is so complex, making one takes dedication and problem-solving skills. Olivia’s team worked on their coin-depositing machine every week for about five months. “It takes a lot of tweaking, because it may not work the first time you try it,” she says. “So you do a test run, and then change it up according to how your test run went.”

The team didn’t perfect one of its machine’s steps until the morning of the final competition. A bottle of water was supposed to tip and pour down a pipe, filling a cup on one end of a pulley. But water kept splashing too far out of the bottle. This type of malfunction could cost the team points. At the last minute, they added a small tube to the mouth of the bottle to aim the flow more carefully.

Making a Rube Goldberg Machine takes hard work and problem-solving skills. That’s because the device is so complex. Olivia’s team worked on their coin-depositing machine every week for about five months. “It takes a lot of tweaking, because it may not work the first time you try it,” she says. “So you do a test run, and then change it up according to how your test run went.”

The morning of the final competition came. The team still needed to tweak one of its machine’s steps. A bottle of water was supposed to tip and pour down a pipe. It would fill a cup on one end of a pulley. But water kept splashing too far out of the bottle. A mistake like that could cost the team points. At the last minute, they added a small tube to the bottle’s mouth. It aimed the flow more carefully.

Finally, it was time to set the contraption in motion in front of the judges. Olivia’s teammate pulled on a nail to drop a weight and start the machine. Eventually, a row of dominoes toppled, pushing a marble, which knocked a coin down a ramp and into a plastic piggy bank. The students cheered—their machine had worked!

The judges tallied the scores, and the results were announced: Olivia’s team had won first place in the middle school competition! But they didn’t celebrate for long. They got right to work on their machine for this year’s contest: a contraption for turning off a light bulb.

Finally, it was time to start the machine for the judges. Olivia’s teammate pulled on a nail to drop a weight. That set things in motion. Eventually, a row of dominoes fell. They pushed a marble, which knocked a coin down a ramp. The coin fell into a plastic piggy bank. The students cheered. Their machine had worked!

The judges added the scores. Then the results were announced. Olivia’s team had won first place in the middle school competition! But they didn’t celebrate for long. They got right to work on their machine for this year’s contest. It’s a contraption for turning off a light bulb.