Giant Marble Machine - Drag Race

Description

Who doesn't love watching a marble machine? Who doesn't love a drag race? Put them together and you get the Giant Marble Machine - Drag Race! Press the big glowing green button to fire up the 24-foot tall elevator that lifts one-foot diameter marbles (upcycled 1970s black pole driveway light covers) to the starting gate. Spectators place their bets, sensors detect when two marbles are ready to rumble, and the "Christmas tree" countdown begins: ready, set, GO! The 45-foot drag strip ends with a photo-finish flag and a large caged finish box that safely returns the marbles to the elevator.

This was a wonderfully challenging project because literally no one on the build team had ever made a giant marble machine before. Initial ideas failed spectacularly, but each failure taught us something valuable, and soon we had a robust installation capable of running over 500 races before encountering a hiccup. Working with a shoestring budget for a 40×40×24 foot footprint, we got creative with materials: lumber, plywood, electrical conduit, laser-cut luan track supports, and lots of cabinet screws.

The team broke into smaller groups to tackle each section—the elevator lift, start box, Christmas tree, raceway, finish box, giant flying spiral, musical shelves, and slalom finale. The electronics crew wrangled the control systems for the AC motor, starting gate, countdown sequence, finish flag, and ball return. We consolidated all the controls at eye level behind clear covers so curious visitors could see exactly how Arduino microcontrollers and a variable frequency drive make the magic happen. Why hide the clever bits?

Gallery

Videos

Technical Details

• Dimensions: 6x24x50 foot for the streamlined final version
• Materials: Wood, steel, electrical conduit, pex piping, hdpe hollow light covers
• Interactivity: Press the go button, place your bets!
• Technology: Three Arduino microcontrollers, industrial leaf sensors, variable freqency motor speed controller
• Fabrication Time: 16 months
• Budget: $8,500

Placements

• Permanent Installation in the Ingenuity Labs Mainspace, Cleveland, OH
• Giant Marble Machine - OG, September 2022
• Giant Marble Machine - Spiral Sphincter, May 2023
• Giant Marble Machine - Drag Race, September 2024

Status

The Giant Marble Machine is a permanent installation. However, three years of experience designing and building them with a large enthusiastic team means that a custom marble machine can be built to be portable and for all occasions

Team