Building a Rube Golberg Machine: Ideas Needed

[Physics Master]

Hello out there i am in 1st year university and I must build a Rube Golberg machine that must tranfer a cup of water 5cm up and 10 cm horizantal. For those who don't know what a Rube Golberg machine is, it is a machine that's takes you trough a bunch of (useless) steps to get to one main goal. The more steps the better. No electricity is allowed from outlets, however you may use batteries.

Please help me asap, i need to hand in an idea soon. I try to help out as many peopel as I can and the return favour would be geratly appreciated thanks.

 

[cookiemonster]

If you're absolutely desparate to get something that'll move a cup 5cm up and 10cm to the side, just put the cup on a platform and attach a counterbalance to the platform with enough potential energy to raise it 5cm and 10cm to the side. A bottle of water would work. String the counterbalance across a horizontal platform in a upside-down U shape, so that one the platform reaches the top, it'll be pulled to the side.

Otherwise, it sounds like you can use whatever you could ever dream of. Just think of random things and incorporate them. There's no "correct" way of doing something like that.

cookiemonster

 

[Cliff_J]

Not sure what's so hard - you just need to line up a bunch of worthless steps that fall in succession like dominoes. Here, watch a video using only Honda parts:

http://www.boardsmag.com/screeningroom/commercials/581/

And visit different websites to gather ideas, like this one:

http://www.rube-goldberg.com/html/contest.htm

Cliff

 

[cookiemonster]

Just thought I'd mention that that's an amazingly cool commercial, but I can't really believe that none of it is special effects.

cookiemonster

 

[NateTG]

Originally posted by cookiemonster
Just thought I'd mention that that's an amazingly cool commercial, but I can't really believe that none of it is special effects.

cookiemonster

It took a bunch of steps, and is stiched together in the middle (maybe you can spot where). The tires are weighted so they roll uphill, and it took a bunch of takes, but they claim to have actually done it.

 

[Cliff_J]

606 takes to get it right.

http://www.dailytelegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2003/04/13/nhonda13.xml

Cliff