R13900: Rube Goldberg Machine CompetitionSupplemental Documentation for Winter-Spring 2012-2013 Committee ReviewPrepared by Lauren Kraft, 5th year ISE

APPENDIX:

1. Skills Checklist (2 pages)2. Faculty Sign-off Sheets (3 pages)3. Potential Concepts/Feasibility/Engineering Analysis (1 page)4. Benchmarking (2 pages)5. Half Page Description (1 page)

Project Name (tentative): Rube Goldberg Machine Competition

Checklist Completed by (name): Lauren Kraft

For each discipline, indicate which skills or knowledge will be needed by students working on the associated project, and rank the skills in order of importance (1=highest priority). You may use the same number multiple times to indicate equal rank.Note: Each team must incorporate at least 1 advanced engineering principle into their machine designs.

Mechanical Engineering1 3D CAD Aerodynamics

MATLAB programming CFD1 Machining (basic) Biomaterials2 Stress analysis (2D) Vibrations1 Statics/dynamic analysis (2D) Combustion engines2 Thermodynamics GD&T (geometric dimensioning & tolerancing)2 Fluid dynamics (CV) Linear controls

LabView (data acquisition, etc.) CompositesStatistics DFM

Robotics (motion control)FEA CompositesHeat transfer Other:Modeling of electromechanical & fluid systems Other:Fatigue & static failure criteria (DME) Other:Specifying machine elements

Reviewed by (ME faculty):

Industrial & Systems EngineeringStatistical analysis of data – regression 1 Shop floor IE – methods, time studyMaterials science Programming (C++)Materials processing – machining lab

2 Facilities planning – layout, material handling DOEProduction systems design – lean, process improvement Systems design – product/process designErgonomics – interface of people & equipment (procedures, training, maintenance)

Data analysis, data mining

Math modeling – linear programming), simulation Manufacturing engr.1 Project management DFx -- Manuf., environment, sustainability

Engineering economy – ROI Other:2 Quality tools – SPC Other:

Production control – scheduling Other:Reviewed by (ISE faculty):

Electrical Engineering1 Circuit design: AC/DC converters, regulators, amplifier ckts,

analog filter design, FPGA Logic design, sensor bias/support circuitry

Digital filter design and implementation, DSP

1 Power systems: selection, analysis, power budget determination 2 Microcontroller selection/applicationSystem analysis: frequency analysis (Fourier, Laplace), stability, PID controllers, modulation schemes, VCO’s & mixers, ADC selection

Wireless protocol, component selection

1 Circuit build, test, debug (scopes, DMM, function generators) Antenna selection (simple design)Board layout Communication system front end designMATLAB Algorithm design/simulationPSpice Embedded software design/ implementation

1. Skills Checklist:

Programming: C, Assembly Other:Electromagnetics (shielding, interference) Other:

Other:Reviewed by (EE faculty):

Computer EngineeringDigital design (including HDL and FPGA) Wireless networks

1 Software for microcontrollers (including Linux and Windows)

Robotics (guidance, navigation, vision, machine learning, and control)

Device programming: Assembly language, C Concurrent and embedded softwareProgramming: Java, C++ Embedded and real-time systemsAnalog design Digital image processingNetworking and network protocols Computer visionScientific computing (including C and MATLAB) Network security

1 Signal processing Other:2 Interfacing transducers and actuators to microcontrollers Other:

Other:Reviewed by (CE faculty):

Chemical EngineeringEnergy and material balances on chemical systems ElectrochemistryFluid dynamics and Heat transfer Inorganic chemistryThermodynamics (traditional and chemical) Environmental science and sustainabilityMass transfer and separation process design: distillation, multistage absorption and stripping, batch and fixed-bed adsorption, liquid-liquid extraction, crystallization, membrane separations.

Advanced material science, polymer science

Chemical reactor design: chemical kinetics, equilibrium, and catalysts.

Surface tension and interfacial phenomena

Engineering lab skills: rheology (in Newtonian and non-Newtonian systems), pressure, temperature, concentration. Pilot lab systems; delivery system assembly including pumps, valves and pressure sensors.MATLAB and EXCEL: solve complex chemical engineering mathematics problemsAdvanced chemistry knowledge: general, physical, and organicMicro- and nano-scale phenomena and process designBasic chemistry-based material scienceBasic engineering economics Other:Basic Process Control Other:

Other:Reviewed by (ChemE faculty):

2. Faculty Sign-off Forms:

3. Potential Concepts/Feasibility/Engineering Analysis:

Note: Feasibility is proven through the numerous designs already completed for the Rube Goldberg Machine Contest and other similar competitions. Please see the images and videos in the PRP under “Potential Concepts”.

1. Initiation Ideas (not specified by Rulebook):a. Timer that sets a machine in motion when it ringsb. Ballc. “King of the Hammer” where a person hits a pad that causes a meter to rise vertically that would

set the machine in motion once it hits a certain pointd. Audio start e.g. clapper

2. Power Requirements a. Areas of concern = assembly line, electromagnetics, robotics, heat transferb. Ideas for circuitry :

i. Use a mousetrap as an electrical switchii. Use steel marbles and movement to complete a circuit

iii. Use falling dominoes to complete a circuit3. Assembly Line

a. Conveyor that starts with a part that has items put on it i. Assemble a hamburger, assemble a car

b. Combine with robotics for assembly purposesc. Assembly falls off the conveyor line to start another process

4. Chemical Reaction a. Fill the balloon

i. Jar filled with baking soda with vinegar in a cup sitting on top of the baking sodaii. Attach surgical tubing to jar lid and balloon

iii. Tip jar over to generate reaction b. Chemical reaction that trips a smell sensor (smart “nose”)

5. EE other than distributing power to different requirements

a. A ball hits a small R2-D2 toy on the head which makes it emit a sound. The sound triggers a pitch sensor mounted on a programmable brick that drives a small robot vehicle forward (adapted from http://tekventure.org/rules/)

4. Benchmarking:

Note: I searched for various Rube Goldberg competitions to benchmark, but overwhelming majority of collegiate competitions were using or adapting the National Rube Goldberg Machine Contest guidelines (see benchmark #1) for their own independent projects or becoming involved in the official competition itself.

Rube Goldberg Competition

Benchmarking

1 2 3 4 5 6

National Rube

Goldberg Contest

Raymond J Fisher Middle School Project

Steinbach Christian

High School Project

St. Luke's School Project

UC Davis Machine Contest

University of

Washington ENG100 Project

1minimum # of steps

20 6 15 10 15 20

2# of required successful cycles

2 1 2 2 2 3

3# of restarts/voids

1 0 1 1 0 0

4max size of machine

6'x6'x6' 2'x2'x2' 4'x8'x5' 6'x6'x6' 6'x6'x6' 5'x5'x6.5'

5 cycle timemax = 2 minutes

min = 10 secondsmax = 5 minutes

max = 9 minutes for 2 cycles (1

reset)

max = 2 minutes

min = 1.5 minutes

n/a

6specifies final task

yes no yes no yes no

7specifies initiation task

no no no no no no

8 reset time20

minutes5 minutes n/a 20 minutes n/a n/a

9# of required simple machines

n/a 3 n/a n/a n/a 3

10 requires a theme yes yes yes yes yes no

Links for Benchmarks:

1. http://www.rubegoldberg.com/Contest 2. http://www.rjfisher.lgusd.k12.ca.us/Staff/jconrad/documents/Rube_Goldberg_Packet-09.pdf 3. http://www.schs.ca/sites/schs.linode1.scschools.ca/files/book-attachments/3309/rubegoldberg-info-

sheet-2012.pdf4. http://www.stlukesct.org/cfl/rubegoldbergchallenge 5. http://davisthetatau.org/rubegoldberg/RG_Regform_2012.pdf 6. http://courses.washington.edu/engr100/Section_Wei/rube_goldberg/introduction.pdf

5. Half Page Description:

MSD I: Winter 20122, MSD II: Spring 20123

Project Description: Dr. Harvey Palmer believes a MSD program

goal is to give students a sense of confidence and pride in their engineering education before they begin their first careers. In order to meet this objective, projects should be attractive to the students’ interests and challenging with multiple solutions to allow room for creativity. With this in mind, Mark Smith would like to increase the visibility of the students’ accomplishments to KGCOE underclassmen and the rest of the RIT community to spark more interest and following.

A Rube Goldberg competition would create an atmosphere of intense innovation as sights are set on a highly visible machine with a “wow” factor that begs people to watch. The competition rules are based off of the well-known Rube Goldberg Machine Contest, with the final task, inflate and pop a balloon, coming from the 2012 contest. After completion, the machines will be displayed at Imagine RIT and judged by underclassmen, faculty, and the crowd for a Design Competition winner and a People’s Choice Award winner. This would jump start visibility within RIT and surrounding community.

Current Tentative MSD Team:Student Team: 1 IE – Lauren Kraft, 2 ME minimum, 1 EE (variable). 1 CE (variable)Faculty Champion: Dr. Beth DeBartolo (ME) Faculty Support: Dr. Vinnie Amuso (EE), John Kaemmerlen (ISE)Customer: Mark Smith (Director of MSD) Stakeholders: Dr. Harvey Palmer (Dean of KGCOE), Karen Ester

(Imagine RIT KGCOE Program Chair)

Feasibility:The learning challenge for the teams would be the multi-disciplinary integration of subsystem interfaces to ensure the final task is completed. By following the guidelines of the Rube Goldberg Machine Contest, this project would have a solid foundation that is used by numerous colleges and universities yearly in order to showcase their talents and creativity.

Rube Goldberg, an engineer turned cartoonist that took a backwards approach to solving problems, and the numerous design competitions based off of his creations, are the inspiration for this project.