COLUMBUS (WCMH) – When it comes to doing a simple task like opening an umbrella, no one does it in a more complicated manner than these 12 college teams from across the country.

The teams competed Saturday in the Rube Goldberg Machine Championships at COSI. The teams were told to create an over-engineered machine with multiple steps that would ultimately open up an umbrella.

“The best Rube Goldberg machines emulate their namesake using everyday items in a whimsical way to create a series of chain reactions that accomplish the simple task set forth for the annual competition,” the event description reads.

Teams drove their machines as far away as Orange County, California in order to enter the competition. One team, from the University of Arizona, says they drove more than 30 hours straight just to be here. They then had two tries to make the machines work.

The winners are:

1st – UW Barron County Future Engineers (Wisconsin)
 
2nd – Purdue PSPE (Purdue Society of Professional Engineers)
 
3rd – University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign 

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