Project
| # | Title | Team Members | TA | Documents | Sponsor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 49 | Automated Smoothie Machine |
Anay Koorapaty Avyay Koorapaty Max Gendeh |
Jason Zhang | proposal1.pdf |
|
| # Automated Smoothie Machine Team Members: - Anay Koorapaty (anayk3) - Avyay Koorapaty (avyayk2) - Max Gendeh (mgendeh2) # Problem Making smoothies often requires measuring different ingredients with different measurement utilities. Liquid ingredients must be measured in mL, while solid ingredients are usually in units of cups or tablespoons. We will automate the measuring and dispensing process. This will enable creating smoothies with different recipes efficiently. Our system will be able to make smoothies by following preset smoothie recipes or recipes the user creates. # Solution Our solution will be a compartment mounted to hang just above the top of a blender. It will consist of a circle of ingredient compartments attached to a funnel. Each compartment will have a structure including two motors, a dispenser, a force sensor, a jug, and some strings. This is the Ingredient Compartments subsystem. Complementing this physical structure, we will have software to control the motors incorporating the force sensor measurements. This is the Recipe Execution subsystem. To be able to create different kinds of smoothies, there will be a UI for inputting recipes and selecting preset recipes. This is the Recipe UI subsystem. These three subsystems will work together to automatically dispense the appropriate amounts of ingredients into the blender for different recipes, increasing efficiency in creating smoothies. # Solution Components ## Ingredient Compartments This subsystem has eight compartments, each one for an ingredient. Five can be set ingredients, and three the choice of the user. Each compartment will contain a vertically mounted force sensor with a hook, a jug suspended from that hook by a string that attaches at two points to the jug, a dispenser, and two motors. We will probably use cereal dispensers for solid ingredients and liquid dispensers for ingredients such as water or milk. A motor will turn the dispenser handle, dropping the ingredient into the jug. The force sensor will measure the weight of the jug and ingredients in the jug. When the weight is the required amount for the recipe, a second motor will pull a string attached to the bottom of the jug, overturning the jug and its contents into the funnel through to the blender. The structure will have pillars to the table, to support the bottom of the funnel hanging just above the top of the blender. There will be a small air gap between the bottom of the funnel and the top of the blender, to facilitate removing and placing the lid of the blender. The motors we plan to use are Adafruit Accessories DC Gearbox Motor - TT Motor - 200RPM - 3 to 6VDC. ## Recipe Execution The instructions for the selected recipe, consisting of a compartment number and quantity amount will be read from memory. For each instruction, the motor corresponding to the correct compartment will empty the ingredients into a jug that is pulling down on a force sensor. Once the weight is the desired amount, another motor overturns the jug to empty the ingredients into the funnel which feeds into the blender. All ingredient quantities will be standardized to grams for ease of interfacing with the weight sensor. When a user selects ingredient amounts for their own recipe, it will be displayed on the LCD display converted to cups or tablespoons, common measurement units for smoothie recipes, while being stored in memory in grams. This will be the software aspect of the project interfacing with the force sensor to find weight, checking if value read from memory matches, and overturning the jug to empty ingredients into the container. ## Recipe UI We plan to have 4 buttons that control the entirety of the recipe UI. These buttons feed directly into an ESP32 microcontroller. For pre-set recipes, the user can press button 3, select which recipe using buttons 1 and 2 to select between recipes, and press button 3 again to confirm. An LCD will display the recipe name the user is currently looking at. To create a custom recipe, press button 4. Adjust ingredient quantities (in grams) using buttons 1 and 2, press button 3 to switch ingredients, and press button 4 again to save and finalize the recipe. Users may press and hold buttons 1 and 2 for faster quantity changes. We are considering using a potentiometer to adjust ingredient quantities but will explore both options to see which we like better. The LCD shows the selected quantity in grams and its equivalent in common units (e.g., tbsp for honey, cups for milk). The button we plan to use is a tactile switch (part number PTS645SL43SMTR92 LFS) and the LCD will be a 16x2 will be best (can’t find part number). # Criterion For Success The machine should be able to: Accurately measure ingredient amounts Transfer the correct ingredient amount from the dispenser, into the jug, then into the funnel through to the blender User blends the smoothie ingredients Allows user to input recipes or select preset recipes |
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