Fast Rube Goldberg Can Crusher

This was a project for our Machines and Mechanisms course (for mechanical engineering) at the University at Buffalo . It's a rube golderberg inspired machine that goes through multiple energy transfers to ultimately crush a can. Max size dimension was 3' x 2' x 2'. The speed is very fast because part of the project requirements was to be able to crush X number of cans in Y minutes or less, while still going through at least 6 energy transfers. The steps are:

1. metal ball through tube
2. ball pins spoon to electical connection- fan starts spinning & hits dominos (first domino has wire connections that stop the circuit once the 1st domino falls over to prevent the fan motor from burning out.)
3. dominos fall up the stairs - last domino has pin attached to it
4. pin pops balloon and drops the stuffed animal dangling from a string
5. stuffed animal sets off a rat trap
6. the rat trap pulls a string, which is attached to a hook
7. the hook is pulled out of the bowling ball
8. can is crushed

Category:

Science & Technology

Tags:

• University at Buffalo
• UB
• Mechanical Engineering
• Engineering
• Rube Goldberg
• Can
• Crusher