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Purdue Claims World Record Goldberg Machine
With 244 steps The Time Machine, built by by members of the Purdue Society of Professional Engineers and Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, took first place and broke a world record at the 24th Annual National Rube Goldberg Machine Contest. From the article: "It starts with the Big Bang, re-creates the extinction of the dinosaurs, holds a jousting competition, flips over an album, and simulates World War II, a shuttle launch, the fall of the Berlin Wall, and even the alleged apocalypse in 2012. In its precisely executed review of history, 'The Time Machine,' a Rube Goldberg contraption built by members of the Purdue Society of Professional Engineers and Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, incorporates a record-breaking 244 steps—all to water a single flower."
lol, nerds.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xdPDn1KUz_A
Did you really just say that? It's it in TFA.
Yes, but does it run Linux?
It should at least break something at the end...so there's a BIG CRUNCH!
Thanks, I'll be here all weekend. Be sure to tip your waitstaff.
The only surefire protection against Microsoft infections is abstinence. - The Onion
... the answer was 42.
I don't think that the steps to the end are useless enough to be a goldberg machine. Everything it does presents a sort of storyline, so it is more of a mechanical play. It's just too useful, or perhaps not abstract enough.
"To invent, you need a good imagination and a pile of junk."
With efficiencies like that, they have a bright future in government.
Learning HOW to think is more important than learning WHAT to think.
It's got nothing on our corporate network diagram.
On Makezine yesterday:
http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2011/04/elaborate-and-mesmerizing-lego-great-ball-contraption.html
This is eight minutes of pure awesome.
Godaddy is a scam and a ripoff.
Did you really just say that?
It's pretty shocking. Rather than a handheld camera to capture the continuous nature of the thing there's a load of cutting here and there; missing the action and so on. It would be nice to see the whole thing in one go.
This one leaves me unimpressed. It's more of a puppet show with some random steel balls rolling around and water being poured. The really captivating RG machines use everyday objects and simple geometrical shapes to achieve complex interactions.
The Daddy casts sleep on the Baby. The Baby resists!
I don't get it. I can understand having separate cultural student groups when the goal is to celebrate your culture, but is there any reason why Hispanics need their own separate Engineer society? Is there something different about Hispanic engineering or does this mean the Society of Professional Engineers excludes Hispanics? Can't we all just get along?
Taking guns away from the 99% gives the 1% 100% of the power.
"It doesn't re-enact history, it just shoots you."
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Is there a "Society of Caucasian Professional Engineers" ?
If not, why?
Because that would be racist. Just like a "Society of Female Professional Engineers" would be ok but a "Society of Male Professional Engineers" would be sexist and discriminatory.
no, i typed it actually.
The video lost all perspective of what a Rube Goldberg machine is about. The edits, cuts, overly zoomed and segmented action completely invalidates the purpose of the exercise. Was it a seamless execution of 244 sequential steps...or was it 244 individual actions filmed and edited together...can't tell from the video can ya. There's at least one segment that had a clear failure (the ice age downhill slalom jammed).
All in all, it was (probably) a great engineering effort that was ruined by someone trying to exercise clever video skills.
The amount of electrical devices (drills, actuators, etc) that are merely switched on and the seeming lack of creativity with the items in the machine makes it ugly, imo. That and the large amounts of spray-paint.
while(1) attack(People.Sandy);
I must say.. Honda's is way better.
There's WAY too much machine here, not enough physics. Drop a ball, hit this switch, pull this string. I'm sure it took a lot of hard work, but it's not impressive at all IMO.
"Purdue Society of Professional Engineers and Society of Hispanic Professional Engineers, incorporates a record-breaking 244 steps—all to water a single flower"
Taking 244 steps to water a single flower shows serious potential in government work.
This video is horrible. Not being able to see the entire project moving in sequence makes it seem like it's fake.
I'm sure it's not-- but the video doesn't help any.
... can be found here
the mythbusters did a better job if they had more time it would not of failed as much as it did.
It doesn't feel like my concept of a rube goldberg machine. I had aspect, but it was more a half dozen short rube goldberg chains that were lined up in a raw than the single long chain of cause and effect that defines a rube goldberg machine to me.
Pug
An Invisible Entity of Vast Power whose existence must be taken on faith alone: Liberal Media
244 steps seems like way too few. Oh. This is not software development quality assurance, just students playing. Wait until they see the Rube Goldberg processes out here in the real world. They will probably retreat back into MBA school in horror.
I have never thought that a Goldberg machine can be actually partially useful such as teaching history (albeit very loosely).
Maybe they should create a new class of Goldberg machines to provide some educational purpose ;)
- JsD
I once built an apple from scratch.
David Cannon , Alex Weaver and Matt Miller
The Hispanic tradition and influence is unmistakable.
But the song for it might be a little catchier http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qybUFnY7Y8w
... the OK Go Rube Goldberg machine. It will be a long time before anyone beats that.
-- This
Next up to conquer is virtual RGM's......oh wait, MS-Office.
Table-ized A.I.
sit down you might not be ready to hear this.
there is still racism in business, and most business dudes are not hispanic
i know i know. i told you you should have sat down.
It kinda fails to address what I'm looking for in a Rube Goldberg device: A continuous flow towards the goal. It seem that the goal "water the plant" is more some minor side effect at the end when all the other gadgets are done so hell, turn on the faucet and do what's got to be done, in a fairly "normal" manner considering the contraption that came before it. Pump water through a pipe? Gee, really? Who'd have expected that?
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Much the same as you, with English.
For full effect, you need Raymond Scott's Powerhouse playing in the background when watching this (or any other) Rub Goldberg machine.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9-7uLg-DZU
ShoutingMan.com
I was under the impression that an authentic rube goldberg device had to involve at least one live animal in the process. (from the rube goldberg cartoons)
No such requirement seems evident in the contest.