How to turn put coins in a bank!


in just 18 steps...

My crazy machine is called "Hickory Dickory Dock". Here is a close-up...

The goal of the 1999 Rube Goldberg contest at the Museum of Scientific Discovery, Harrisburg, PA was to build a machine (with at least 10 steps) to put coins into a bank.

1. Release Chitty Chitty car with mouse driving it and it bumps a rubber ball.

2. The ball knocks down the dominoes.

3. The dominoes trigger the first mousetrap.

4. The mousetrap pulls a string to turn on a toy record player. The music is "Hickory Dickory Dock"!

5. The record player spins the colorful gears.

6. The gears wind slowly wind a string that pull up a paperclip.

7. The paperclip is no longer in contact with another paperclip, which breaks the circuit on an electromagnet.

8. The electromagnet releases a mouse in a car down the ramp.

9. The moving mouse runs into a string, making it vibrate.

10. The string triggers mousetrap number 2.

11. This mousetrap pulls a string which pulls a hook (paperclip).

12. The hook releases a red parachute man and he flies down the incline.

13. The man pulls another string from a tube. This string has a pencil on the end.

14. The pulled pencil/string lets a heavy ball drop down the tube.

15. The dropping ball pulls an attached string up, making another mouse "go up the clock".

16. As the mouse moves, two small ball bearings are released down a marble track. (His tail was holding them in place).

17. The ball bearings land on mousetrap number three.

18. The mousetrap pulls a wire to trigger the mechanical bank, and with a tiny picture Rube Goldberg watching closely, a dog puts the coins into the bank!

My machine won third place. Unfortunately, during the judging, the next to the last step didn't work! The mousetrap didn't go off. It seems the marble track was a little crooked.

My pal Peter Knepp of Mount Holly Springs won First place in the 1999 contest! His machine was built from toys, string, coins and a bank and performed flawlessly. The bad news: My mom videoed his machine, but in all the excitement, forgot to take a picture. Peter, if you read this, please send me a picture!

Other winning machines....

In second place was Mr. Richard Kelley, and his wife, Lois. They are a retired couple from Boiling Springs. Their contraption was built from pieces of wood, with many ramps, a pendulum, and a loud bell.

Honorable mention went to a team from my same elementary school. First grade sisters, Emily and Elizabeth, built a machine with 10 steps. It worked perfectly and had toys, water and rolling balls in it.

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This page has been enjoyed times since April 14, 1999.

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