August 25, 2005

Purdue's Rube Goldberg machine premiers at children's museum

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – Purdue University will take the 2004 People's Choice Rube Goldberg machine to the Muncie Children's Museum on Saturday (Aug. 27) for a special exhibit opening.

The machine, called "Rube's County Fair," shows children how to select, mark and cast an election ballot. It was designed and built by the Purdue Society of Professional Engineers and placed second in the 2004 Regional Rube Goldberg Machine Contest. The annual contest, named for cartoonist Rube Goldberg, challenges contestants to take a simple task and make it as difficult as possible.

"The Muncie Children's Museum is a great place to exhibit the 'Rube's County Fair' machine because it is such a fun contraption for kids to watch. It's also a great way for them to learn how engineering works and get them interested in engineering," said Shawn Jordan, a Purdue electrical and computer engineering doctoral student from Fort Wayne, Ind., who worked on the machine. "The Rube Goldberg machines are built from everything but the kitchen sink, and sometimes a kitchen sink is included."

The "Rube's County Fair" machine features 60 steps including: a billiard ball that switches on a hand mixer that winds a rope; a catapult that launches a toy frog across the machine; and another toy frog that hops down a ramp and hits an ear of corn, causing a log to land in a pond, triggering an air cannon. At the conclusion, the machine casts the ballot.

Goldberg was known for his wacky and whimsical depictions of how to complete a simple task using everyday items in as complicated a process as possible. Each year, in his honor, the regional and national Rube Goldberg contests take place at Purdue and are organized and sponsored by the College of Engineering and Linda Katehi, the John A. Edwardson Dean of Engineering. The overall theme of the competitions is to construct a machine using at least 20 steps to perform a simple task.

"Rube's County Fair" will be on exhibit at the Muncie Children's Museum permanently. The museum is located at 515 S. High St. in downtown Muncie.

Writer: Cynthia Sequin, csequin@purdue.edu

Source: Shawn Jordan, ssjordan@purdue.edu

Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu

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