Autonomous Robot Part 3 – Fire Bubble Machine

For the third iteration of the Bubble Project we took the reaction the audience had to the presentation of our last iteration and ran with it. The rest of the class was intrigued and excited by the mess of soapy water and danger of fire during our presentation and the energy level was noticeably higher in the room after we were done.

The third and final iteration of the Bubble project was a Rube Goldberg machine of sorts employing fire, bubbles, and water in as many steps as possible given the time frame. The project played with danger and time to absorb the audience and cause them to anticipate each step.

We drew our inspiration from “The Way Things Go”. A video of an art installation created by Swiss artists Peter Fischli and David Weiss in 1987. This video features a Rube Goldberg machine that systematically destroys itself through a series of kinetic movements and chemical reactions.

Our project employed the bubble machine from the second iteration as the first step, setting off a series of other kinetic and chemical reactions that eventually turn on a pump that refills the bubble machine with soapy water.

Final Video:

Photographs:

Initial ideation of Fire Bubble Machine – Side view

Initial Ideation – Top view

Initial ideation – Part dimensions

Assembled Machine – First four steps

Assembled Machine – Last five steps

Second and third steps – Ramp and See-saw

First and final step – Bubble machine and tube to refill it

Bubble machine closeup