University Park, Pa. — Penn State's student chapter of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) walked away with clean hands and a third-place trophy, thanks to two flawless runs of their 'Indiana Jones'-themed hand sanitizing machine at the 23rd annual Rube Goldberg Machine Contest, held at Purdue University on March 27.
This year's competition challenged students nationwide to design and build a machine that dispensed an appropriate amount of hand sanitizer into a hand. The machine had to complete the task with a minimum of 20 steps -- the wackier the better -- in two minutes or less.
ASME earned the opportunity to represent the Nittany Lions at Purdue by winning the Penn State Rube Goldberg Machine Contest on Feb. 27.
"It was great that all of our hard work paid off," said mechanical engineering senior Mike Yanek of ASME's win at Purdue. "We made a machine that ran consistently, especially when it counted. We were all essentially first-time builders, and it was an awesome feeling to cap off the adventure with a podium finish."
The University of Wisconsin-Stout took first place in the annual "Olympics of Complexity" while St. Olaf College took second. Other schools competing were Black Hawk College, Ferris State University, Michigan Technological University, Purdue, Texas A&M University, University of Buffalo, University of Illinois, University of Texas and University of Toledo.
ASME's machine, titled "Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Dirty Hanz," spoofed various aspects of the Indiana Jones movies and took spectators along on a 52-step quest for "The Golden Idol of Cleansing." About halfway through its run, the 310-pound machine rotated 180 degrees, a move that both surprised and delighted the audience.
"Designing a smooth mechanism to turn the machine within our budget was a challenge," said Drew Taylor, a senior in mechanical engineering.
Yanek added, "The winch rotation system limited our options a little bit in terms of steps. None of the steps on the second half of the machine could use hair triggers -- they would have triggered prematurely during the rotation. It was extremely important to design and build robust steps that would work during rotation and when it stopped. If we wanted to use any fragile steps, they had to be placed before the rotation."
The team stayed within their $200 budget by custom-making nearly every bearing and hinge on the machine from salvaged or readily available parts.
"Although it took more time to make just about everything from scratch, we had the ability to fine-tune most steps with simple adjustments," explained Yanek. "Plus, it was just flat out more fun to get creative and figure out ways to do more with less."
Senior mechanical engineering student Eric Do agreed.
"Even though we spent hundreds of hours on the machine, it was always a good time. There aren't many opportunities where we can just let our imaginations run wild and be as creative as possible. It was fun being with everybody working towards a common goal."
Other members of the ASME team included Ben Clark, mechanical engineering junior; Adam Last, mechanical engineering sophomore; Justin Gambone, mechanical engineering senior; Shawn Gehringer, electrical engineering senior; John Krall, electrical engineering senior; Diana Russella, mechanical engineering senior; and Bryan Shearer, mechanical engineering freshman.
The Rube Goldberg Machine Contest honors the late cartoonist, Reuben Lucius Goldberg (1883-1970). The award-winning engineer-turned-artist is best known for his "Inventions" cartoons, which poked fun at the new technology of the day by portraying simple machines and household gadgets in complicated and wacky ways. Although he died more than 30 years ago, Goldberg lives on in the Rube Goldberg Machine Contest as students build puzzling contraptions with crazy mechanisms in the spirit of his illustrations.