Hi! Welcome back to another blog post. Today, I will be writing about one of the most exciting experiences of my life, creating a Rube Goldberg. If you don’t know what this is, it is an overly complex machine to accomplish a simple task. So far, I have completed drawing my sketch and building my machine. I will write about problems I ran through and my wave of mixed-up emotions. I hope you enjoy it.

One problem I ran into was having to move the location of my machine. This was because I didn’t have enough space to finish my idea. Instead of tearing down my machine and starting from scratch, I decided to just move it to a  different place. I had already built four steps so it wasn’t too painful. However, it was still very annoying so for me, it was like walking on a path when a giant car drops right in the middle of the road.

My original sketch:

My Final Sketch:

My Final Sketch (Continued):

I drew two sketches. This was because I moved my machine. Since it was placed on a different table, I had to make several changes, I had to erase my original sketch and then make another one. As you might guess, this was very annoying. However, I was glad I did because my new sketch was fantastic and I was beyond satisfied with it.

Another problem I ran into was having a hard time concentrating. This was because I usually worked on my project during the evening. This is after a long day of school, extracurricular activities, and homework. The main reason for me doing this was my eagerness to get things done. Instead of getting things done at a reasonable pace, I try to complete things as fast as I can. This has taught me time management. Fast does not mean quality performance.

While building my machine, I ran into two very challenging parts. It was like running into technical difficulties and trying to solve them. This was when I attempted my first pulley and the final conclusion of Rube Goldberg. The first pulley was a big problem for me because I couldn’t figure out how to have an object on one side lift up and hit another object. After 2 days of digging through old supplies, I found the right materials to make it work. The conclusion was hard for me because I wanted it to work while still looking fancy. I had an idea. It was to just have something pour in a bowl. This would definitely work but wouldn’t look good on camera. After about a day or two of thinking, I hit an aha! moment. This new idea would accomplish what I wanted and make it look good while doing so. I built it and it worked!

Something annoying and boring when testing my machine was tweaking and rebuilding it. This felt as if you were forced to write a ten-page essay. This was because it required a lot of patience that I wasn’t used to having. However, I was glad that this was part of the project. As I kept repeatedly tweaking and rebuilding, I gradually built up some patience. It was like I lost my voice and after many hours of searching for it, I got it back. As I am reflecting on myself, I realized that being patient and calm will help you complete a challenging project better than being frustrated and impatient.

In conclusion, this first half of my Rube Goldberg Project has taught me a lot and has shown me areas I could improve. It also taught me some good qualities. I can’t wait to finish this amazing project and post more about it.