Maker Faire Bay Area 2008

The Incredible Marble Machine!

Topic(s): Arts | Engineering

Tags: kinetic sculpture rolling-ball marble machine art education

I am creating a rolling-ball sculpture with students at Baywood Learning Center. Teams of one to two kids will be responsible for building marble tracks within their own diorama-style box. I am constructing a frame that supports nine such boxes, connecting them together with a web of tubes, and has a crank-operated elevator to bring marbles to the top.

Website

Project photo.

About the Maker(s)

Aaron Geman

Aaron Geman

- TinkerThink.net

I grew up an aspiring inventor, endlessly tinkering with radios, bicycles, and motors. I fashioned electro-mechanical gizmos, wind-powered kinetic machines, three-dimensional board games, and match-head rockets with inertially activated parachutes. These passions led to science competitions at which I won several national medals, including first place in the 1999 National Science Olympiad and an accompanying scholarship to the University of Chicago. At Brown University I am a computer science major. But, time away from my workshop found me daydreaming about inventions. I left school to investigate an alternate career as a mechanical sculptor.

Website Email

comments powered by Disqus