Marble Machine

Organized by Ashley Cheung ’23

Location and Time

We'll be in the Makerspace from 12-4pm each day, with optional work times from 7-9pm as well.

Information for Participants

I'm purchasing these materials for you:

• ⅛ inch wood

• 1.5mm thick wire

• 9/16 inch diameter marbles

Let me know (acheung@hmc.edu) if you want anything else for your part of the marble machine!

Brief Description

Participants will work individually or in a small team to each create part of a marble machine. This machine will be a contraption that forms a closed loop that marbles continuously roll through.

It is the hope that at the end of the activity, each participant will get to keep their part of the marble machine.

Participants would make things like tracks, pachinko machine type things, see-saws, ramps, etc. Their part of the machine can include simple motors, or they can be completely powered by gravity. Each participant will be assigned a starting coordinate and an ending coordinate in space, and the way they guide the marble from the start to the end will be up to them. They would spend their time planning, prototyping, and building their design. Through this activity, participants will learn different fabrication techniques and gain confidence in their ability to create anything they can imagine.

Any Prerequisite Skills or Knowledge Needed?

No, each of the fabrication techniques can be taught in under an hour and the emphasis in this activity would be learning new skills. If a participant is particularly ambitious, they could design a contraption to lift marbles up, but most participants would simply create a fun track for the marbles to go down.

Which tools participants use will depend on their design, but the following are available: 3D printer, laser cutter, waterjet cutter, bandsaw, scrollsaw, soldering iron as well as any hand tools. Usage of the Machine Shop requires that the safety quiz is passed ahead of time; Makerspace training can be done during the Joy Term.

Time Footprint

Consistent participation will be required for this activity. For each part of the machine, we expect an average of a 7 hour commitment spread out over the week. This activity requires that each participant attends a whole group session for one hour on Monday and they do need to consistently participate to complete the part that they say they will make.

Every day, there will be a 3-4 hour time window where participants can get help from the organizer(s) regarding their design. Participants can also work on their piece whenever they want if they would like to work independently. The amount of time and exactly when each person works on their design would depend on their abilities and the complexity of their piece. Since each participant's piece fits together into the overall machine, it would be difficult to allow people to drop in to participate if they weren't at the first meeting.

Number of Participants

Minimum: 5

Maximum: 20

Ideal: 12