User:1fcovahcc/enes100/project1/individualwork

Choose Project 1
The instructor told us to choose from a list of projects, three of our favorite ones. I chose the Rube Goldberg, Illuminate Clothing and Bernoulli vs Coanda Demonstration. The project that I will work on these four weeks will be the Rube Goldberg.

Write problem/project Goal
The goal for this first project is to create a Rube Goldberg machine with a specific theme, which is Engineering. This will be presented on Club Rush Spring 2013 in order to encourage people to get into the Engineering field.

Create a functional and practical Rube Goldberg machine, with a theme that can be used in Engineering activities, such as: Club Rush and Engineering Week

My First Task
My first task is to come up with a design for the Rube Goldberg involving chemical and mechanical engineering. Besides this, I'm also going to think about possible materials to use in the machine.

Summary of actual work over first weekend
I actually did came up with some ideas of how the Rube Goldberg should start. I discussed a lot with the team of how we should implement the several branches of engineering. I came up with the first part of the Rube Goldberg Machine, this part is involving Mechanic Engineering, after that it will eventually go over a bridge (Civil Engineering) and we were thinking that after that, the next reaction should be with Chemical Engineering. This way we will be using three branches of Engineering so far.

Week1 Narrative
The first week for the time was essential. A lot of points were discussed, from how it should look like, which branches of Engineering we should put and how we will make it practical but at the same time sophisticated and interesting for the next Club Rush. I presented by drawing some sketches how the Rube Goldberg Machine should start. First, there are going to be two tubes on the top and there will be two steel balls that will go through them. This tubes will lead the balls into two bridges, on from each side, this bridges will go down and will take the bells into a net. When the bells fall down into the net, this will make that a beaker, containing vinegar, will fall down into a bowl that contains baking soda making a reacting. I came up with the idea of putting some colourant so when the reactions occurs it would be colorful. In this part there are already three branches of Engineering taking place, the first would be mechanic and civil with the use of gravity and the bridge. After that, when the vinegar of the beaker falls down into the ball, this would be a chemical reaction.

My Second Task
For the second week I'm planning to keep on coming with more ideas for the Rube Goldberg Machine to involve not only one side of it, but also the left and right parts, so the space is used properly.

Summary of actual work over second weekend
I did think about how to properly used the side parts of the Rube Goldberg Machine, but I used most of my time using Google Sketch Up to create a graphic model of the design. I learned how to use Google Sketch Up, I watched a lot of tutorials, and finally I came up with three graphic design of the sketches that the team had. The first graphic design that I made is the one that involves the three branches of engineering. The second graphic design is the design that my team member Chad made for the structure of the Rube Goldberg Machine. The third graphic design is the combination of the first and the second graphic. I did this so the team could see how it will look the Rube Goldberg Machine if we do what we are planning to do.

Week2 Narrative
While making the design with google Sketch Up, I realized that this program is really tedious to use, but with some practice and watching some tutorials you are able to improve a lot while working with it.

Tutorial Google Sketchup

I made the graphic of the design and while I was making it I realized several factors that might interfere with the production of the Rube Goldberg so I changed some minor details.

My Third task
Make in physical parts of the Rube Goldberg machine and put them together.

Summary of actual work over third weekend
The task that was expected for this week was done, the team and I started to build the structure of the Rube Goldberg machine.

Week3 Narrative
This week was essential for the project. The structure of the Rube Goldberg machine is finally made. I scavenge with Chad and Becca on the back room of the Engineering room for materials that could be used for the structure of the Rube Goldberg machine.

We found a lot of things that could work for our next parts of the design. The team and I found several pieces that will work but the design would be slightly different so it can work. After thinking of how the new design would affect the structure, we came to the conclusion that it would not matter, so we decided to go with this because this way we would not have to spend more time waiting for materials that need to be bought and we would not have to spend any money on it. We chose the materials that we wanted on our structure. Since the structure was going to be different Chad and I drew some sketches of how it was going to be with the new materials.

For the documentation of the project I record some of the steps that were done while making the structure. First of all, we made measurements of the legs of the structure, and then we proceed to cut it with an electronic saw. We were careful about it and used goggles for our protection.


 * Cutting the legs for the structure

After cutting the legs of the structure we started to drill them to the first level. At first it was really uncomfortable to work with it because we had to sustain it, but then after the first part was done it was more easy to work on the rest of the levels.


 * Screwing the legs to the structure

My Fourth task
Finish the structure of the Rube Goldberg machine, and start working on the second level.

Summary of actual work over fourth weekend
For this week the group and I finished the design of the Rube Goldberg machine and started working on the different levels.

Week4 Narrative
This fourth week the group and I started working on the structure of the first level of the Rube Goldberg, we started by making measurements to see where it was going to be the first hole. In the design made in Google Sketch Up there is a hole in the middle of the first level, in that level there is supposed to be a tube that will conduct two steel balls that will consequently fall into a bridge and so on. In order to star working on this part the first part that was needed to do we made the hole. First, we found a drill with hole saw, with that we cut the first part of the hole, since it was to small Chad suggested to use a mechanical jigsaw, I made the measurements for the hole and he finished making the hole. After that, the cut was not smooth, so we used a dremel and with that we finished making the cut smoother.

When the hole was done, I suggested to drill the wheels before making any further advancement in the project because this way we could see how the wheels would affect the stability of the structure of the Rube Goldberg. We flipped the structure upside down and I started making some measurements of where the wheels should be put. I measured 1x1 inch from each side, so it is evenly positioned in proportion to the structure. The wheels that we used were bought in Home Depot, the material of which the wheels are of aluminum, I did some research and it says that these types of wheels work better when working with rough roads, and they can stand heavy weight, so for our project these type of wheels would work just fine because we are planning to use our project in several activities, and in order to move it it would have to go through rough roads like the front part of Duncan Hall and Clark Library. We started drilling the wheels, and after that we used a level to see if the structure was leveled, and it was, some of the parts were not that much, but we did some arrangements and we finished by making it leveled in all part. This way we are making sure that when we start working on the different parts of the project, these will not be compromised by a stability issue.

I documented all of these steps so further teams could used them as a reference when making these kinds of things.

Steps done to drill a hole on the structure and put the wheels on it

 * Drilling a hole to the first level


 * Making the hole bigger with an Electronic Jigsaw


 * Making the hole smoother with a dremel


 * Screwing wheels to the structure