Dom Dezort

Mr. Petrella

Introduction to Engineering

December 20, 2019

Rube Goldberg Journal

Over the past couple of weeks, I imagined, designed, and built a Rube Goldberg machine. It
contained around eight or nine different components that came together to close a door. Throughout
the project I was met with a lot of challenges that I had to work through in order to complete the task.
At each step in the process there was an obstacle that I had to overcome through mechanical thinking. I
was able to work out the problems and create a machine that I am very proud of. I worked very hard on
this machine and my grade shows it.

I used many different materials to build my machine. I used wood, Legos, toy cars, string,
pedestals. that hold wood, weighted ball, marbles, golf balls, and scissors. Each item had a vital role in
closing the door. The machine worked with a chain reaction or things occurring, that in the end led to
the closing of the door. I was able to complete the project by myself with little help from my parents. I
used many tools that helped benefit me build the machine. I cut wood with an electric saw, used a
hammer, screwed things together with a power drill and used duct tape to tape when screws were not
applicable. The length of my machine was in all about 11 feet long from the start of the machine to the
door. I was able to complete the building of the project in one day, but the design process took longer.
Once I had a design that I was happy with, the building was pretty simple and did not require a lot of
strenuous labor.

Overall, I had a good time building this project and would not mind doing something similar in
the future. It was fun to see the machine I built be able to close a door and work the way it was
supposed to. I am very pleased with the work I did and hope to keep growing my knowledge of
engineering.