Rube Goldberg's Time Machine Constructed by: The American Society of Mechanical Engineers University of Texas at Austin Illustration of steps: Entire Machine Go to Upper Level Go to Middle Level Go to Lower Level Back to main Rube page Rube Goldberg's Time Machine begins in 1996, with the debut of the 5th generation Chevrolet Corvette. The person starting the machine turns a key, which releases the model, which is pulled up a ramp by a falling weight in the base. When the car gets to the end of the ramp, it hits a lever which starts the Exxon Valdez step. History: This particular model of Corvette had a design flaw that would sometimes cause the rear axle to fall off. Our re-enaction has the axle falling off as soon as the Corvette hits the Valdez activation lever. The next step is the Exxon Valdez. The purple lever that the Corvette hit previously tips over a small tub of ink, which diffuses through the water, and covers a light sensor in the white block below. The sensor completes a circuit, which opens an air valve for the next step. History: In 1989, the Exxon oil tanker Valdez was the cause of a huge oil spill near Prince William Sound. The spill caused many disruptions in nature, most visibly the deaths of many animals at sea and on the coast. The third section on the upper level of the machine is the Saturn rocket step. The light sensor opens an air valve, and pneumatic power pushes the rocket up from the bottom through the launch bay doors. History: In 1969, the American space exploration program made its first trip to the moon with the Apollo 11 launch, assisted by Saturn V booster rockets. The Saturn V rocket rotates a latch on launch, which drops a weight on a bed frame caster down the clear tube. The bed frame caster just happens to be slightly smaller than the diameter of the tube, and acts as a plunger in a sealed cylinder. The weight forces a charge of air through the orange hose, which pushes a float down from the upper boat. The float hits a lever, turning a magnetic couple, which begins the next step. The couple operates through a set of magnets on a small lazy susan - the magnets on the lever inside the tank rotate, and the attraction between the magnets pulls the outside magnets along with them, turning the outside half of the couple. History: During World War II, submarines were widely used for spy missions and stealth attacks. Our tank shows a battleship dropping a depth charge on a hostile submarine. The fifth section is the airplane step. The magnetic coupling starts a metal bearing rolling down a track, which drops onto and sets off a rat trap. The rat trap pulls a pin, releasing a falling weight, which causes an airplane on a wound up rod to start flying in circles. The plane hits the lever on the right side of the picture, which pulls a pin for the next step. History: 1903 marked the birth of manned flight with the Wright Brothers' famous launch at Kitty Hawk. The flight only lasted a few seconds, but it showed that humans could finally join the birds in the sky. The pulled pin releases another falling weight, which opens a door that allows a slew of metal bearings to roll down a plastic chute. The bearings act as a fluid to turn a wheel, which repeatedly hits the lever above for the next step. History: This step represents the industrial revolution, when the usage of powered machines was becoming widespread. Our step shows the utilization of rotary power to accomplish a task. The revolution wheel moves a sprung lever back and forth, which pushes cars out with a wooden pin. These cars fall into a small cup on a lever, which acts as a scale. When the cup side of the scale reaches a critical weight, it flips the switch on the opposite end of the lever. History: The assembly line, first used by Henry Ford in the production of the Model T in the early 1900's, was a major step for the manufacturing industry. It was beginning of a new era, where mass production could turn out large numbers of identical goods in a short period of time. The switch at the end of the lever turns on the power to a model train controller. A Union Pacific railroad engine runs along the track from one side of the base to the other. At the end it drops a weight which activates the Civil War step. History: The completion of the Transcontinental Railroad in 1869 enabled people to travel from one side of the American continent to the other with ease. North rushes South in the Civil War. The motion of the dropping weight in the base pulls a lever in the base, which causes the Union army to rush the Confederates. The army strikes another lever, which bumps a billiard ball off its pedestal, down a chute, and into an ice cream scoop next to Napolean. History: Many technological breakthroughs were made during the Civil War, as is during all times of intense national competition. One major standout of the war was the invention of the repeating rifle, which was instrumental in ensuring the North's victory over the South. The ice cream scoop releases a pin which fires a cannon. Napolean's cannon fires a wooden projectile, which hits the Sphinx's nose. The nose, which is part of a lever inside of the Sphinx, causes its right arm to shoot out and start the guillotine. History: In 1798, shortly after the French Revolution, Napolean's troops shot off the nose of the Sphinx, scarring one of Egypt's most famous landmarks. The arm of the Sphinx releases a washer, which is the only thing holding the guillotine blade in place. The guillotine drops, chopping a cheeto neck in half. The unhappy billiard ball head rolls down a ramp, hitting a lever that starts the printing press. History: During the French Revolution, the invention of the guillotine allowed swift, reliable, and wonderfully gruesome execution of criminals and enemies of the state. The green lever pulls a pin, which sets the metal roller free. It rolls down the ramp, inking itself on the pad, and prints the letters 'ASME' on the paper below. The roller hits the stop at the end, and knocks another billiard ball into a hole in the base. History: The invention of the printing press in 1457 by Gutenberg provided for quick and reproducible printing jobs. Books, flyers, and other publications could now be mass produced. Gutenberg's most famous production is the Gutenberg Bible, one of which is displayed in the University of Texas' own Harry Ransom Center. The billiard ball runs down a length of plastic rain gutter inside the base, and emerges from the hole next to the Leaning Tower of Pisa. It falls into a cup, which tilts a lever. The lever releases a sprung pin which holds the Tower in place, and the Tower leans. A marble at the top of the Tower flies off, and falls to the Great Wall of China below. History: The Leaning Tower of Pisa was completed in 1185, and is one of the world's most visible engineering blunders. Our step, in addition to having the Tower go from straight to tilt, recreates one of science's great legends. Galileo is rumored to have attempted verification of Newton's theories of motion by dropping objects off the Leaning Tower of Pisa. Our blue marble flying off the top replicates that. The blue marble rolls down the Great Wall of China, and hits a stop at the end. The stop triggers a wooden cam that rotates clockwise, opening clamps that hold an air hose shut. The air then flows out of the balloon, which is supporting a wooden channel representing an old Roman aqueduct. A ball rolls down the aqueduct and drops into a cup, which starts the Trojan Horse step. History: The Roman Colloseum was the largest public arena built during the Roman Empire. It housed gladiators below the floor, and even had a canvas roof that could be drawn over the top. The Arch of Constantine next to it was built during the same era, and is the structure that the Arch de Triomphe in Paris was modeled after. The aqueduct was the means that the Romans used to transport irrigation waters around the country. History: The Great Wall of China, which was completed in 618, is one of the greatest structures ever built. It is the only man made monument that can be clearly seen from orbit high above the earth. The billiard ball rotates a lever that pulls a pin holding the Trojan Horse in place. The Horse rushes forward and hits the City of Troy. The collision pushes a plunger back, which opens the door in the front of the horse. The Trojan army glides out on a cart, and hits a lever which sets off the Easter Island Moai step. History: The legend of the Trojan Horse is pure fiction. Supposedly, during the Trojan War, the Greek army used the Horse to sneak their troops into the city of Troy. They filled the belly of the Horse with soldiers, and left it just outside Troy's walls. Thinking the Horse was a gift, the Trojans brought it inside the city walls. At night, the troops invaded the town. The lever pulls a pin in the side of the Moai, which then springs up and is held in the standing position by a magnet. On its way up, the Moai pulls a length of monofilament, starting the anvil step. History: No one knows when or how the Easter Island heads, also known as Moai, were built. All that is known is that the inhabitants of the island didn't stop building heads until they completely ran out of resources - experts assume that they stopped building because they had no trees left to roll the heads on. The monofilament line from the Moai drops the hammer onto the anvil. The hammer hits a lever, which kicks a golf ball down a track. History: The Bronze and Iron Ages occured from about 1900 to 1700 BC. The anvil and hammer were the main tools that was used to fashion metals into such things as swords, shields, and armor. These last few steps are the most spectacular. The golf ball rolls down the track, hits a paddle, and disappears into the pyramid. The paddle is connected to another paddle inside the base with a brass rod, and it pushes a billiard ball down another short length of track. It hits a lever that drops a weight. That weight drops, utilizing gravitational energy to pull a string which rotates a platform. The platform turns, activating four hammers which kick the top of the pyramid open. The falling weight also pulls a pin that sets the wheel free. The wheel rolls down the ramp, and pulls a sled carrying the golf ball up metal rails inside the pyramid. This is the same golf ball that came from the anvil seconds earlier. When the wheel hits the end of the ramp, it pushes a switch that opens an air valve. Air from the tank below the base pushes the air piston up through the top of the pyramid, finally completing the task of teeing up the golf ball. History: The Egyptians built pyramids as tombs for their pharaohs as early as 2500 BC. Many lives were spent in the construction of these monuments, and structures of their scale will probably never again be built. History: The invention of the wheel carries tremendous significance - it is a major part of machines that we use every day, most notably the automobile. The time period that the wheel was invented is not known, but many suspect it to be sometime during the Stone Age. It is the cliche 'first invention ever,' and so holds the last spot on our machine. Go back to main Rube page These pages and all material on this server are copyright 1999 by The American Society of Mechanical Engineers at The University of Texas at Austin. If files from this page are reused elsewhere, please give credit where credit is due. 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