Part of Science Xchange, October 23 2011, Guildhall Cambridge, CB2 3QJ, 11am – 4pm, FREE Entry

It will all start when Julian Huppert, MP for Cambridge, tugs a small piece of string ….

The CAMBRIDGE MACHINE is to be the largest multi-player, publicly built Heath Robinson / Rube Goldberg machine ever assembled in day in the United Kingdom! Essentially, the CAMBRIDGE MACHINE is a sprawling, reactive device where one section triggers the next which triggers the next and so on, sending a triggering signal around the room causing other things to happen in as interesting, creative, or downright bizarre a way as possible (as long as it’s safe!).

Our short video gives you some ideas of what a chain reaction section might be linke, and the video here gives you an idea of how it all fits together on the day. We have to thank the guys over at MIT Museum for their inspiration and giving us more than a few helpful thoughts on how to run the event!

Our CAMBRIDGE MACHINE will have some sections which have been prepared beforehand and installed on the day, and some parts which get built from scratch on the day. We’re offering opportunities for school groups, clubs, businesses or any other collection of interested people to pre-register places for their section of the chain. To register all we ask is that you get together beforehand to build some of your contraption and bring it in early on in the day to get it installed and working we all the other links. To register, please contact us here

The contraption you might want to prepare should:

1. Size: fit into a space approx.: 1m long x 0.7m wide x 1.20m tall

2. Weight: no more than two people can carry comfortably

3. Input / Output: trigger from the pull of a string, finish by pulling a string

4. Not to include: mains power, heating elements, explosions or fire of any kind, hazardous materials or dyes. This will work in a public space so it must be safe. If you have questions on this, please contact us here

5. ‘Goldilocks’ timing (just right): remember the crowd will be watching your machine! So, not too fast (“What just happened?”), and not too slow (“Are we there yet?”)

6. Size of the actions: let the audience see what’s going on in your machine: not too small (“What’s going on in there?”) and not too big (leave room for a couple of tricks in your space). However, there will be a video camera following the action and projecting it onto a large LCD screen. If you have something intricate planned, just make sure you’ve told the videographer on the day so he or she knows what to look for!

For those intrigued enough to want some REAL details, here’s the guide on the input / output string pull for your section:

Input trigger pull: should be able to trigger from a string pull provided by a 100g weight having a drop distance of 5cm. Pull should be assumed to come in from a reasonably horizontal direction. The string and / or input trigger should be able to break free in case of a fairly strong pull.

Output string pull (to next stage): should be able to lift at a 200g weight over a distance of at least 7cm. Pull should should be reasonably quick rather than gradually applied.

Input / Output location: string pulls should be between 0 and 50cm from the base, and fairly close to centre of the width of the frame.

Input / Output isolation: the input trigger and output string pull mechanism should be able to be isolated from the inner workings of your machine so that we can test the links between sections without triggering your whole piece of the chain!

NOTE: The input pull strength is intentionally less than the output pull. This is to build-in a design margin for integrating the stages

NOTE: Our display video at the top of this post does not show “standard” input / output

One the day you’ll be able to talk to some of our volunteers who can help our with design or integrating your section. Make sure you and your team arrive reasonably early (i.e., between 11:00am and 12:00noon) so that we can work on getting your section properly integrated.

There’s going to be couple of prizes for the section of the chain with the most innovative demonstration of a scientific principle, and another for the crowd favourite. So get thinking and building!

More details on the help you will have on the day (tools, materials access, etc.) will be published shortly.