Project

# Title Team Members TA Documents Sponsor
32 Automatic Cocktail Dispenser
 Ben Thuma
Caleb Kong
Carson Van Pelt
 Prannoy Kathiresan design_document1.pdf
final_paper1.pdf
photo1.jpg
photo2.jpg
presentation1.pdf
proposal1.pdf
video
# Automatic Cocktail Dispenser

Team Members:
- Carson Van Pelt (carsonv2)
- Caleb Kong (calebk3)
- Benjamin Thuma (bthuma2)

# Problem

Describe the problem you want to solve and motivate the need.

Enjoying a nice cocktail with friends is a common activity among eligible adults. However, mixing these delicious concoctions takes a lot of time, skill, and effort that can detract from quality time spent with friends. In most cases, people may not have the knowledge and practice to produce the drinks they desire. Time and skill are two shortcomings that can be resolved with a simple device that can create drinks on its own.

# Solution

Describe your design at a high-level, how it solves the problem, and introduce the subsystems of your project.

An automatic cocktail dispenser is better than manually mixing in many ways: it’s more consistent, time-efficient, more convenient, and even safer. First off, manually mixed drinks are often hard to replicate consistently, especially when the user is inexperienced with making their own drinks. An automatic cocktail dispenser eliminates the opportunity for poorly mixed cocktails such as the quantity of alcohol used. Secondly, an automatic cocktail dispenser would be able to produce drinks at the push of a button and be ready to consume shortly after. There’s no doubt that making a drink by hand would be less time-efficient, so being able to simply push a button would make more time to socialize with friends. Lastly, the dispenser could potentially eliminate the risk of using sharp tools and reduce the risk of accidents or injuries from happening.

The automatic cocktail dispenser would consist of 5 main components:
Liquid dispenser
Microcontroller
Refrigerator
Drink Stirrer
Power Supply

# Solution Components

## Subsystem 1 - Liquid Dispenser
Each liquid ingredient will be stored in its own original bottle and have its own tube, connected to a central dispensing area above the mixer. The tubes will be replaceable, for sanitary reasons, as well as to avoid mixing unwanted alcohol residue into the current cocktail. The liquids will be passed through the tubes using an electric pump. Smaller liquids such as syrups and juices may instead be connected directly through the refrigeration unit for convenience.

## Subsystem 2 - Microcontroller
The microcontroller’s main purpose is going to be ensuring the correct amount of each ingredient is dispensed for each cocktail, as well as selecting the cocktail that is chosen by the user via button inputs. This system can also notify the user what liquors and juices are required for their desired cocktail to ensure the proper ingredients are connected to the machine. Depending on price this may be done by a small display on the unit or something like a lightweight phone application.

## Subsystem 3 - Refrigeration
This component would keep specific ingredients safely stored and preserved prior to being dispensed for a cocktail, such as fruit-based juices and certain syrups. The liquors themselves will only need to be brought out of the user's main fridge when connected to dispensers, reducing the need for a large refrigeration unit.

## Subsystem 4 - Drink Stirrer
Most simple cocktails are stirred after being produced, so the final step in the process would be mixing the drink with a stirring spoon/rod after everything has been dispensed. The stirring utensil will also be powered by an electric motor. Depending on cost and materials, this may either drop down on its own using an additional motor or simply be easily user attached, requiring small user interaction during this step.

## Subsystem 5 - Power Supply
The design will simply be powered by any wall outlet. If units, such as refrigeration require their own plugs, we may connect them to a single power strip for convenience.

# Criterion For Success

Describe high-level goals that your project needs to achieve to be effective. These goals need to be clearly testable and not subjective.

- Releases the ingredients in the correct quantities, within 10% error
- Dispenses correct ingredients for the correct cocktail recipe with no selection error
- Safely refrigerate the perishable ingredients

Modularized Electronic Locker

Jack Davis, Joshua Nolan, Jake Pu

Modularized Electronic Locker

Featured Project

Group Member: Jianhao (Jake) Pu [jpu3], Joshua Nolan [jtnolan2], John (Jack) Davis [johnhd4]

Problem:

Students living off campus without a packaging station are affected by stolen packages all the time. As a result of privacy concerns and inconsistent deployment, public cameras in Champaign and around the world cannot always be relied upon. Therefore, it can be very difficult for victims to gather evidence for a police report. Most of the time, the value of stolen items is small and they are usually compensated by the sellers (Amazon and Apple are very understanding). However, not all deliveries are insured and many people are suffering from stolen food deliveries during the COVID-19 crisis. We need a low-cost solution that can protect deliveries from all vendors.

Solution Overview:

Our solution is similar to Amazon Hub Apartment Locker and Luxer One. Like these services, our product will securely enclose the package until the owners claim the contents inside. The owner of the contents can claim it using a phone number or a unique user identification code generated and managed by a cloud service.

The first difference we want to make from these competitors is cost. According to an article, the cost of a single locker is from $6000 - $20000. We want to minimize such costs so that we can replace the traditional mailbox. We talked to a Chinese manufacturer and got a hardware quote of $3000. We can squeeze this cost if we just design our own control module on ESP32 microcontrollers.

The second difference we want to make is modularity. We will have a sensor module, a control module, a power module and any number of storage units for hardware. We want to make standardized storage units that can be stacked into any configuration, and these storage units can be connected to a control module through a communication bus. The control module houses the hardware to open or close all of the individual lockers. A household can purchase a single locker and a control module just for one family while apartment buildings can stack them into the lockers we see at Amazon Hub. I think the hardware connection will be a challenge but it will be very effective at lowering the cost once we can massively manufacture these unit lockers.

Solution Components:

Storage Unit

Basic units that provide a locker feature. Each storage unit will have a cheap microcontroller to work as a slave on the communication bus and control its electronic lock (12V 36W). It has four connectors on top, bottom, left, and right sides for stackable configuration.

Control Unit

Should have the same dimension as one of the storage units so that it could be stacked with them. Houses ESP32 microcontroller to run control logics on all storage units and uses the built-in WiFi to upload data to a cloud server. If sensor units are detected, it should activate more security features accordingly.

Power Unit

Power from the wall or from a backup battery power supply and the associated controls to deliver power to the system. Able to sustain high current in a short time (36W for each electronic lock). It should also have protection against overvoltage and overcurrent.

Sensor Modules

Sensors such as cameras, motion sensors, and gyroscopes will parlay any scandalous activities to the control unit and will be able to capture a photo to report to authorities. Sensors will also have modularity for increased security capabilities.

Cloud Support

Runs a database that keeps user identification information and the security images. Pushes notification to end-users.

Criterion for Success:

Deliverers (Fedex, Amazon, Uber Eats, etc.) are able to open the locker using a touchscreen and a use- provided code to place their package inside. Once the package is inside of the locker, a message will be sent to the locker owner that their delivery has arrived. Locker owners are able to open the locker using a touchscreen interface. Owners are also able to change the passcode at any time for security reasons. The locker must be difficult to break into and offer theft protection after multiple incorrect password attempts.

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