User:CWill32/enes100/poppit/Individual

Individual Work

Write problem/project Goal
What is your wording of the overall problem/project goal?

The goal is to create or build a device or group of devices that act together to perform a simple task at completion, which is called a Rube Goldberg Project. The team's goal is to relate the Rube Goldberg Project to different specific areas of engineering such as civil, mechanical, electrical, etc. and display the finalized project at the next club rush at Howard Community College or perhaps Engineering Week in the Spring of 2013.

My First Task
What are you going to do for the team this first weekend?

My task for this week is to think of ideas that relate to civil engineering and brainstorm on methods of incorporating them into the Rube Goldberg.

Summary of actual work over first weekend
How is what you did different than what you planned?

There are numerous examples and ideas that can be incorporated from the single field of engineering that is civil engineering. Civil engineering is a very broad field and choosing what aspects to include in the project provides many options. There are more ideas than possible space for the project, so the choices have to be narrowed.

Week1 Narrative
Tell a detailed story describing what you did for your team over the weekend.

Over the weekend I observed my surroundings in the attempt to jog my brain and come up with ideas for the project in the field of civil engineering. I have decided, in order to relate the project to an audience that is not necessarily involved in engineering, that I must include objects and ideas with which a majority of the public is familiar. I believe models of bridges, buildings, roads, and damns are things that people would be able to identify with and might spark interest in the field of engineering.

My Second Task
Record what you are planning on doing for the team during the second weekend.

My second task is to continue to narrow down ideas relating to civil engineering to incorporate into the project as well as coming up with a rough design for the actual structure of the Rube Goldberg. The structure is what each piece of the machine will rest upon. In class we have decided on a simple plan and I am to refine the design to the point that it is mobile, lightweight, and able to include all areas of concentration of engineering the team has decided to include; all within a minimal budget.

Summary of actual work over second weekend
How is what you did different than what you planned?

I had planned to begine some construction of the base structure throughout the week. Although we have decided on our material for the structure, it was found by the team that it would be better to have a better idea, therefore design the majority of our machine prior to starting any construction. Instead of putting an actual physical structure together, I have been working in google sketch up to make a model of the structure and also begin designing the working apparatus.

Week2 Narrative
Tell a detailed story describing what you did for your team over the weekend.

There is a design that has been settled on for the structure and a 3D model has been created. The beginning stages of the Rube Goldberg have been designed and I am now trying to incorporate several design elements into the existing model. I am trying to develop a sketch of the beginning apparatus that would use some sort of pinball mechanism to start the machine by shooting pin balls up a wire ramp, as seen in pinball machines, then droping the balls into the holder as seen in our existing machine.

My Third task
Record what you are planning on doing for the team during the third weekend.

I plan on continuing to work around in google sketch up and finalize my work on the starting apparatus as well as design working contraptions for the remainder of the machine. A fulcrum for the next stage in the machine will be designed under our weight triggered container that will drop or have a liquid drop into a container to push the lever down and continue the Rube Goldberg.



Summary of actual work over third weekend
How is what you did different than what you planned?

My work on the project actually went according to plan, except that I was not able to finalize any designs. I did create some designs, but the final project design has not been pieced together nor has all aspects been coordinated to ensure the design will work as expected.

Week3 Narrative
Tell a detailed story describing what you did for your team over the weekend. This week my main focus was on continuing the rube goldberg design process. By working in Google Sketchup, I was able to desigh a preliminary component that can be included in the rube goldberg to continue where the team last left off. I also worked in sketchup to design a pinball apparatus that can be used to begin the whole mechanical process of the rube goldberg. These are rough sketches and are not exactly what I envisioned although they give the general idea of what I would like to incorporate into the machine.



My Fourth task
''Record what you are planning on doing for the team during the final weekend of project work. ''

For this week I plan on finalizing some concept designs in sketchup and beginning to build the structure and mechanisms of the rube goldberg. As the team's vision begins to materialize, I will help the team to work through the construction.

Summary of actual work over fourth weekend
How is what you did different than what you planned? I was going to construct two ramps of identical or very similar proportions in order for balls to travel up each side to begin the process of moving things towards the finished product. Alternatively, I researched purchasing used pinball ramps instead of designing and building my own. This method appeared to be too costly and the idea has been put on hold. I continued to research ideas to build my own ramps.

Week4 Narrative
Tell a detailed story describing what you did for your team over the weekend. I perused several sites including ebay.com, amazon.com, and various pinball repair websites to find prices and availability of pinball mechanisms. I specifically looked for ramsps and the plunger and balls. I have decided to purchase the pinballs 1 1/16". I will also like to purchase the plunger fully built from a vendor online. I also went to Home Depot and found several items of interest. I found steel rods that I think will be able to be used for the construction of the ramps and some 45* 2" pipe elbows for a lower section of the Rube Goldberg.

Complete Team Page
Fill out the Team Form (should have already copied the form, created the team page, linked to it and started filling it out).