Rube Goldberg machine
Deliberately complex contraption
A Rube Goldberg machine is a machine that looks complicated but has a very simple function, such as ironing a shirt. It is an expression used to identify something that does very simple tasks in a very complex way. The expression was named after American inventor and cartoonist Rube Goldberg (1883–1970). Rube Goldberg machines are usually a set of simple mechanisms that are indirectly unrelated, which carry out a simple function, these are called chain reactions and initiate a series of events to produce a certain outcome. Although the Rube Goldberg machine creates a simple outcome, it is most likely impossible to replicate in real-life as it is often extremely complex and quirky.
