Rube Goldberg Machines

I love Rube Goldberg devices. There’s something entrancing about watching and understanding how they work. Here are a few I’ve found on YouTube.

The first one here will tell you what a Rube Goldberg machine is, then show you. This is an interesting one as it’s made with the Half Life 2 engine. That’s right, a virtual machine built within an environment that has realistic physics.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=dNHj0gPtpJE&mode=related&search=

These next two are some of my favorites. They’re little machines made, using whatever comes to hand, for a Japanese kids show called Pythagoras Switch . In my opinion, a show superior to Sesame Street and its ilk as it talks down less to the younger crowd and is actually interesting to watch(look it up on YouTube, there are about three episodes on there which have English subtitles).

I love these best because they’re clean and use a lot of motive forces, including the required gravity, magnetism and inertia. Some are simple, some are complex, all are perfect.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=0pAmVipomcA

http://youtube.com/watch?v=yyXpHoihMXs&mode=related&search=

And a few more for your enjoyment.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=KsHSVlG8vZ4

http://youtube.com/watch?v=l5vIPK50bTE&mode=related&search=

http://youtube.com/watch?v=27JE_98O6zQ&mode=related&search=

http://youtube.com/watch?v=m_Sb9cvmRTg&mode=related&search=

http://youtube.com/watch?v=ppDY2L80PvA&mode=related&search=