The machine really does seem to be without purpose. Nothing seems to be feeding into it, that he can see, nor being produced, except a lot of noise, and occasional bursts of steam. He also gets the sense that there's more to the machine, on a lower level, though he doesn't see any apparent way to access it, though he does see three other 'pipes', like the one he entered the chamber from, around the room, at roughly the same height.