A Chair for Rube Goldberg

A CHAIR FOR
RUBE GOLDBERG

LOCATION

CAMBRIDGE, ONTARIO, CANADA

PROJECT PARTNER

CJ YANG

YEAR

2019

The premise of the chair project is simple: pick one famous person who is renowned in their particular field, and design a chair that reflects them and their work. We picked the cartoonist Rube Goldberg.

“A Chair for Rube Goldberg” is inspired by his “Rube Goldberg Machines” which completed simple tasks through convoluted, indirect, and humorous ways. Though Goldberg never built the machines himself, his legacy has led to working machines being created for film, television, music videos, and even engineering competitions.

The chair is at once a sculpture and a performance. It combines the controlled chaos of the mechanics of a Rube Goldberg machine with the live construction of a chair from scavenged parts.

Check out this video for a step by step breakdown of each mechanism, our test runs, and the final presentation.

STEP-BY-STEP
BREAKDOWN

RIGHT VIEW

The user takes the marble from the holder and drops it through the target (A).

Marble hits a series of metal plates (B) on its way down ramps.

Marble falls into weighted bucket (C) hanging from string.

Bucket full of marbles (D) is pulled over by string weighed down by bucket (C).

Marbles bounce and roll down plank of nails (E).

Marble drop into funnel of nails (F).

Inside of funnel (F).

Marbles fall into half tube (G).

Marbles roll along into bucket (H).

Lever is pulled down by bucket full of marbles (H), which tilts up the platform (I).

Platform (I) holding marble releases it into tube (J).

Marble exits tube (J) on to rail (K).

FRONT VIEW

Marble exits tube, rolls down rail (K), hits cowbell (L) which rings and knocks over dominoes (M).

Dominoes (M) land on top of taut string.

Taut string pulls out pin (N) holding the foot of the chair (O) down.

Foot of chair (O) is pulled up by spring. An attached ruler hooks onto a string connected to dominoes above (P).

The first domino (P) is pulled down by the string yanked down by the seat (O).

The dominoes continue along the ramp, which turns and changes heights.

The last domino hits the small marble at a corner angle (Q), knocks it out its perch, and the marble begins rolling.

The small marble rolls down the stepped ramps (R).

The marble enters the bucket (S) to change directions, and it continues to roll down a ramp in the opposite direction.

LEFT VIEW

The marble keeps rolling as the ramp transitions into a tube (T).

The small marble exiting the pink tube hits a medium marble which then hits a big marble on a small ramp (U).

The large marble hits wood piece (W). All marbles land in bag (V).

Wood piece (W) turns on its axis from the marble, and the bent piece hits the end of wood piece (X).

Wood piece (X) falls over and lands on woods piece (Y), which pulls down a connected string.

The pin (Z) is pulled out by the string weighed down by the fallen piece of wood (X), dropping one end of a plank.

The stack of books (Σ) slides down the plank and falls off to hit the pizza pan. The weight pushes down the fulcrum (β).

The chair back (Δ) is catapulted up 45 degrees, which is when the springs take action and pull it upright.

The seat (λ) which is hinged to the chair back, comes slamming down, and the chair is complete.

STEP-BY-STEP BREAKDOWN

RIGHT VIEW

FRONT VIEW

LEFT VIEW

A CHAIR FOR
RUBE GOLDBERG

STEP-BY-STEP
BREAKDOWN