Project
| # | Title | Team Members | TA | Documents | Sponsor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 | Automated Cocktail/Mocktail Maker |
Benjamin Kotlarski Dominic Andrejek Nick Kubiak |
Wesley Pang | design_document1.pdf proposal1.pdf |
|
| # Automated Cocktail/Mocktail Maker Team Members: - Dominic Andrejek (da24) - Benjamin Kotlarski (bkotl2) - Nick Kubiak (nkubi2) # Problem Making cocktails or mocktails can be a tricky situation at times. You have many different ingredients that you must accurately measure and are very prone to human error. In social settings this can also be a somewhat time-consuming and inconvenient process. While some automatic drink dispensers already exist, most are expensive, very large, and have many limitations. # Solution An automated cocktail and mocktail mixing machine can fix this. Based on a user's input, the system will dispense a precise amount of the specific liquids needed to make that drink. There will be a sensor to check for cup presence so liquid is not spilled everywhere and user input will be done through either buttons, a small graphical UI or potential voice. The system will contain multiple containers to hold liquids with pumps or solenoids to connect them to the cup that is controlled by the microcontroller. Some type of weight sensors will also be implemented to make sure the correct amount of each liquid is dispensed. For use, if a cup is present and a user gives a recognizable command from the pre-defined recipes the microcontroller will start activating the appropriate pumps/solenoids to drive the correct ingredients to the cup to make the desired drink. Our design will be a more affordable solution (using much cheaper materials) that more residential users will be able to use and enjoy the precision and luxury of properly measured out drinks without needing external and premade pods or absurd prices. # Solution Components ## Subsystem 1 - User Interface (UI) Initially it will be a simple push button, in the future potentially expand or rework into a more complex screen based UI after expanding the pump system so that there are more options with potentially more ingredients to them too. Expansion to multiple buttons for multiple drinks is also a simpler option for expansion once we get an initial drink working. Here is an initial button we can use 16mm Panel Mount Momentary Pushbutton - Red Product ID: 1445 ## Subsystem 2 - Stirring Mechanism Since these drinks are being produced by two different liquids, they are naturally required to be mixed by some means. Thus, the purpose of this subsystem is to automate the drinks stirring process. To do so, it will require two different motors connecting back to the systems microcontroller. The first motor will be in charge of controlling the height of the stirring arm so that it can be lowered into and out of the cup, while the second motor would be in charge of actually rotating the stirrer to mix the drink. In terms of the potential motors which would be able to do this, we found that the linear up/down motion could be handled with a dfrobot fit0806, while the rotational motion can be done with an adafruit 3777. These are both DC powered thus we will use batteries to power our system and if we find issues with either running through batteries very fast or requiring higher power outputs then we will implement an AC to DC converter to allow us to use wall power. ## Subsystem 3 - Pumps and Plumbing This system will be in charge of transporting the liquid from our housing containers to the central cup. Upon the signal from the microcontroller, the pumps will turn on transporting the liquid from the housing container to the liquid through small tubes. Once one pump finishes dispensing the liquid and is verified as correct, the next pump will turn on in charge of the next liquid and dispense into the central cup. For the tubing we will use small plastic tubing 1/6 in. I.D. x 1/4 in. O.D. Clear Vinyl Tubing. The pumps we will use to control the liquid flow is the Adafruit 1150. ## Subsystem 4 - Intercomponent Communication System Microcontroller system to communicate between all of the systems. For example sending on a user input the microcontroller will tell the pumps to start taking liquid from the housing containers to the central cup. This also includes various colored LED’s to note the status of each step or whether something might potentially be wrong. This will tell the pump if/when to dispense, how much to dispense, and how the motors should be moving. We will use an ESP32 microcontroller along with our custom PCB. ## Subsystem 5 - Functionality and Weight Verification System Some weight sensors which verify the amounts/presence of liquids, and also verify that there is a cup present. Each Container (both liquid housing and the central cup) will have a weight sensor below them. The weight sensor below the central cup will have two purposes. The first is that the microcontroller must read a non zero/small value from it along with a user input to start dispensing liquid. Then it will also make sure that the amount of liquid lost from the liquid housing (based on weight lost) is then regained in the central cup so we know all liquid is fully transferred and is not stuck in the tubing. The weight sensors can either have the numbers adafruit 4540, sparkfun tal220, and adafruit 454. This decision will be based on the weight limit we will determine necessary for our application in the design phase. Regardless of which one is chosen, however, all of these require the addition of an amplifier to function. The code for that is hx711. # Criterion For Success In its most fundamental and basic form, our project must be able to successfully produce at least one simple stirred cocktail upon a user's input. This must effectively include the following functions. First is the ability to check whether a cup is present before pouring any liquids, as well as check if there is the right amount of the necessary liquids before pouring. Once that is complete, the stirring and pouring mechanisms should move down into place, and the different liquids get individually poured into the cup. The amounts of each liquid should be measured via the weight sensor below the cup so that each time the drink is produced the portions remain consistent. After each respective liquid is poured into the cup, the stirring device should clearly activate, and whenever it finishes the stirring and pouring mechanisms should move back up to their starting positions, with a green LED indicating that the process was completed. If time permits, however, we hope to be able to expand our goals a bit more in three different ways. The first way was to expand the selection of drinks by having multiple different options available to choose from. An additional and slightly different approach to expanding the drink selections would be to incorporate more complex options as well that would require multiple different ingredients instead. The final goal which we hope to achieve/reach would be to incorporate a more complex and visually appealing UI so that users can easily select between and see different drink options on a screen. # Alternatives There are three different categories of alternatives which currently exist relating to our proposed project. The first is a coaster looking device which connects to a phone app via bluetooth to weigh the amounts of liquid you add to your cup and guides you in making your drinks. This product, while the least expensive of all other options, is by far the most simple and the least automated. The next alternative was a fully automated drink creator which worked by having users input a flavor pod for their desired drink, and mixing it with the correct liquor. While this one got closer to performing the same function as our idea, its price went drastically up and it required users to purchase or own the company's specific flavor pods. Finally, the alternative which is most similar to our design is the Barsys 360 Cocktail Maker Machine, which also takes in various liquids and dispenses them accordingly for whatever mixed drink one desires, but that's where its functionality ends. Therefore, besides the fact that it once again has a very large price tag, it also does not have the same functionality of actually automatically stirring the drinks for a user. Important to mention too is that there do exist commercial grade versions of this type of machine, but these ones jump in price even further up to around three thousand dollars. |
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