Rube Goldberg's Time Machine Constructed by: The American Society of Mechanical Engineers University of Texas at Austin Illustration of steps: Lower Level Go to Entire Machine Go to Upper Level Go to Middle Level Back to main Rube page 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 series of levers 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. Email the webmaster: vryce@mail.utexas.edu