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The RUBE GOLDBERG MACHINE CONTEST brings the ideas of Pulitzer Prize
winning artist Rube Goldberg's "Invention" cartoons to life.
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Named after, and inspired by the cartoonist Reuben Lucius Goldberg, the
contest is designed to pull students away from their matter-of-
fact way of looking at a problem and send intuitive thought spinning into
a chaos of imagination. The end result is usually a collection of bits and
pieces of found objects and mechanical parts put together in a whimsical
and unlikely working configuration to build a new machine that actually
conquers the current year's challenge. |
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Rube Goldberg drew his "inventions" as contraptions which satirized new
technology and gadgets. His drawings, using simple machines and household
items already in use, were incredibly complex and wacky, but somehow
(perhaps it was because Rube was a graduate engineer) the "inventions"
always had an ingenious, logical progression at their root.
Every year the nation anxiously awaits the wild display of innovation
and genius, as well as the confusion and sometimes despair which always
accompanies the running of the National RUBE GOLDBERG MACHINE CONTEST. |
Recent past challenges have been:
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1988 Adhere a Stamp to a Letter
1989 Sharpen a Pencil
1990 Put the Lid on a Ball Jar
1991 Toast a Slice of Bread
1992 Unlock a Combination Padlock
1993 Screw a Light Bulb into a Socket
1994 Make a Cup of Coffee
1995 Turn on a Radio
1996 Put Coins in a Bank
1997 Insert, and Then Play a CD Disk
1998 To Shut Off An Alarm Clock
1999 Put Toothpaste on a Toothbrush
2000 Open a bag of M&M's
2001 Make a baloney sandwich
2002 Raise an American flag
2003 Open a box of cereal
2005 Pour soda from a bottle to a cup
2006 Putt a golf ball
2007 Open an Umbrella
2008 Draw a Smiley Face
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Of course, each of the above "challenges" had to be done in twenty
or more steps to complicate this simple task and demonstrate science and
engineering working innovation, and creative skills while having fun!
Information taken from The Rube Goldberg
Homepage.
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