How did Rube Goldberg and W. Heath Robinson satirize complicated machines?

Rube Goldberg and William Heath Robinson were prominent cartoonists who satirized the modern preoccupation with technology by creating "wild half-anthropomorphic parodies of intricate machinery."1

They satirized complicated machines through the following approaches:

• Roundabout Complexity: Goldberg, an American cartoonist, became famous for inventing contraptions that accomplished simple, everyday tasks in an outlandishly complicated manner. His inventions, such as an automatic stamp licker involving a robot and an anteater, highlighted the absurdity of over-engineering simple processes.2
• Impractical Design: The British artist Heath Robinson was renowned for his humorous drawings of fantastic, ludicrously impractical, and elaborate machines. These designs were so iconic that an overly complex or absurdly constructed device became known as a "Heath Robinson contraption."3
• Social Commentary: Both artists used their work to critique the industrial and technological trends of their time. While Goldberg specifically satirized the American obsession with technology, their shared legacy lies in using the accumulation of frustrating but ludicrous mechanical details to dissolve the frustrations of modern life through laughter.21