Introduction to Mechanisms and Machines

This chapter covers the 6 basic machines (levers, pulleys, wheel and axle, inclined plane and wedge, screw, gear) and covers a lot of the vocabulary you’ll need in the coming chapters. It also covers minimum constraint design and provides a framework for referencing moving parts (xyz coordinate systems, planes of motion, etc.). You can download the full chapter through this link.

Project 1-1: Rube Goldberg machineTo make the Rube Goldberg machine just like the example, you can download the laser cutter template for free here on Thingiverse or go right to my Ponoko store to buy the parts.


Rube Goldberg Breakfast Machine from Dustyn Roberts on Vimeo.
Also check out this example from a reader!

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