Task Machine Competition
Thank you to all those who participated in the Fall 2021 Task Machine Competition!
The Winners are:
- 1st place – $300 – Roman Addokhi and Monica Martinez
- 2nd place – $200 – Gilbert Tohme
- 3rd place – $100 – Christopher Lambert, Sunni Lin, Susan Zhang, Prithika Ganesh, and Sarah Stantial
In depth details about each of the project submission can be found below.
Roman Addokhi and Monica Martinez
For their project, Boiling Barista, they created one of the hardest coffee machines to use. This coffee machine refuses to turn on, and if you keep asking it to do its job it will only get more and more angry! Those brave enough to keep asking will get coffee grounds thrown at them. Their project used an Arduino microcontroller to give their project its personality and to control the servos which do all the action. The craftsmanship is also apparent on this project with attention to detail like the packets of sugar attached to the box.
Gilbert Tohme
He built the Elevator to Nowhere. This project was an elevator that went up and down without ever reaching where it needed to be. It was built primarily from Acrylic and Steel parts. It was also unique in not using a microcontroller, instead it used purely mechanical camshafts, polarity switches, and other unique mechanisms to make nothing happen.
Christopher Lambert, Sunni Lin, Susan Zhang, Prithika Ganesh, and Sarah Stantial
This group made a super Sleepy Rhett. Their project was very artistic with a 3D printed and then painted dog that sits on a bed and turns off his alarm clock. The alarm clock turns on, with beeping and a light until Rhett moves his tail and shuts it off… only for the alarm to turn back on. Servos and an Arduino were used to power this project. Again, the craftsmanship was very impressive and this team worked well together to create something very cool.
Beav Horenberger and Erin Rehm
These two built a robotic arm named Scout who had a box that needed to stay closed. When the box is opened, the arm moves to close it. This project utilized extensive servo motors to give the arm 5 degrees of freedom and a microcontroller to do all the thinking. The arm was 3D printed, which highlights the flexibility of that platform to make new things.
Christian So
He created a Rhett in a Box that turns itself off when you turn it on. This fun take on the useless box also used Arduino and Servos to make the action happen. There is a fine level of workmanship here, with an integrated power cord, a zipper for some style on the lid, and a well put together wooden box.
Justin Li
Justin built a car that just can’t seem to make it anywhere. No matter how much this car tries, it always finds itself in the same spot (almost like it’s in Boston Traffic). He used an ultrasonic sensor, Arduino, and a continuous servo to make this happen. The car sits on a platform that is propelled forward until it reaches the sensor where it is then reversed. This loop just keeps on repeating as the car fails to do what it would like.
Jean-Marc Lubiba
Jean-Marc created a Wooden Gollum that uses a servo to turn off the switch you turn on. The red eye of Gollum lights up when this happens, showcases his anger. This project used the CNC mill in making the Gollum which gave the figure a nice level of precision. The project also utilized a plastic lattice on the sides of the box which allowed you to see inside to the workings within.
Nash Elder
He created a gelato container that just wouldn’t let you open it. This project was very compact, and used some cool tricks like a thin piece of nearly opaque plastic inside to give the appearance of being full of ice cream. This project also used an Arduino Nano rather than the Uno that most others used.
SILab Task Machine Competition is October 16, 2021!
Engineering can be a very fun and exciting experience, and as an engineering student you may one day tackle some great challenges. But you should also tackle some fun ones. We would like to challenge you to a fun one: we would like you to, on your own or as a team with fellow students, design and build a Task Machine. This is a simple machine that undoes whatever action it performs. It should be creative, and entertaining. The goal is not to solve a problem, but rather to experience how fun it can be to make something and entertain others with what you design. This can be as simple or as complex as you would like.
We have made an example, an Arduino powered box that shuts itself off when turned on.
This is not the only option, and there are a million ideas online. For inspiration, check out these sites. Don’t be discouraged if you don’t think you can do something as elaborate as these. We are eager to see a lot of participation!
If you want to see more try search terms: “Useless Machine” “Rube Goldberg Machine” “Arduino”
Also, we will hold online workshops on woodworking and electronics and post the videos here in July 2021 to help you get started on the project competition or maybe just for you to learn something new!
For more workshop details, click here
Competition Criteria:
- Build quality
- Design
- Creativity
- Personality
- Documentation
Prizes for the Competition:
- 1st Prize – $300
- 2nd Prize – $200
- 3rd Prize – $100
Competition Guidelines:
- Documentation (No more than 4 pages of text + figures in your main body of the report. This page limit excludes the appendices.)
- Introduction on your idea – What does your project accomplish, or rather un-accomplish
- Methodology – Describe your design and/or manufacturing process
- Results – present the final project
- Appendix
- CAD assembly + parts drawing
- You may use anything found in the lab or at home
- There must be a woodworking component.
- We encourage you to work as a team. We’ve all been on lock down. Take this opportunity to meet new people and work in person!