MESA Machine v1

Background
In March, 2022, we built our own Rube Goldberg machines in physics class. Though the teacher had his own rubric, he said we could compete in the MESA Engineering Competition if ours were good enough. Over the next three weeks, me and a friend built one of the most complex school projects I'd ever worked on. For our efforts, we won first place in the MESA prelims.

Description

A metal ball bearing starts on the ramp at the top of the machine, where it has the most potential energy. When a cord connected to a duct tape door is yanked, the ball bearing is released. Its motion is translated to kinetic energy as it continues down both ramps, and into a small series of PVC pipes.

The bearing rolls down a final ramp before triggering the first mousetrap. The trap's kill bar flies forward, releases its hold on the taut drawbridge string, and allowing it to fall. This creates an incline for some small marbles to roll down and land in the funnel, where they go on to trigger a second mouse trap.

The second mouse trap yanks back a small door blocking the movement of a cork ball, allowing it to roll down the final ramp and into the pulley bucket. The weighed-down bucket falls onto a switch, triggering the fan.

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