Project
| # | Title | Team Members | TA | Documents | Sponsor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 42 | Autonomous Cold Salad Bar |
Siddhaarta Venkatesh Tejas Alagiri Kannan |
proposal1.jpeg |
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| # **Team:** 1. Tejas Alagiri Kannan(tejasa4) 2. Siddhaarta Venkatesh(sv39) # **Problem:** In the food industry, a huge number of processes are extremely rote and utilize manpower on monotonic tasks that can be replaced by an autonomous system. One such problem is the usage of manpower in assembly line format restaurants(eg, Chipotle, Forage Kitchen, Qdoba, etc.). Just as in the automation industry, where the assembly line is, in essence, replaced by 6-DoF arms and robot operators, I believe the manpower in restaurants can also be replaced by a robotic system that can provide higher efficiency. We have already seen a large number of processes getting automated in the restaurant industry, such as the automated food bar in sushi restaurants and robotic servers(not widely adapted unfortunately). # **Solution:** At the outset, I would like to mention that the solution does not aim to automate the entire pipeline from creating the dish to serving it. To perform highly technical dishes is a different problem in itself. I aim to make the serving process more efficient and reduce wait time. Given the ingredients, such as, chopped chicken, chopped onions, sauces, etc(which i believe is a fair starting point) Each ingredient will have its own pipe that dispenses one specific type of dish. Once we receive instructions of what food needs to be prepared and the x # of ingredients it needs to dispense and in which order, the bowl on a conveyor belt will move back and forth to fill up with those ingredients. These ingredients are funneled from their own pipes that dispenses the ingredients, one at a time. The final box is then sealed and placed in a shaker which mixes the ingredients and it is served at the end. # **COMPONENTS:** # **Subsystem 1: Motion** The bowl must be moved around the pipes to get filled. This is what we propose: Conveyor belt: 4 idlers, 2 head pulleys, 1 NEMA 23 motor(or other), 1 gear reducer, 1 motor driver(TB6600) 1 Food storage basket, 5 individual dispensary pipes, 5 servo motors, 1 servo motor PWM controller The dispensary pipes will be pumping out food using a servo pump filler mechanism where the servo motor will push down on the contents of the pump(in a piston like motion) and squeeze out the food). We will use the ESP32 Microcontroller series # **Subsystem 2: User Interface** For initial testing, simple buttons to determine which dish is chosen. The final device will involve a screen, natural interface. The simple buttons will just be regular tactile buttons. and the final screen would be an ST7789 LCD display that will show the user what food has been ordered. It will show the user what options they have chosen for their salad and how to add/remove particular items with a button press # **Subsystem 3: Food presentation** We expect to have the final salad, well tossed and provided to the user. So once the bowl is filled which is determined by it passing through the pipes of all its ingredients, the user will close it with a cap. the user will have the choice to have it shaked or not. That feature is an additional button after the food is dispensed. The bowl is then placed in a closed contrapment which simply rotates at high speeds to mix the food. It is a very similar design to regular boba shakers. Shaker: 1 NEMA 23 motor, 1 gear box, 1 motor driver(TB6600) # **Subsystem 4: Accuracy checking** A major part of this project is to ensure efficiency. So we will incorporate a weight sensor(mini load cell), this weight sensor will track the weight of the bowl as items are being dispensed and will serve as a checker to stop the machine from over dispensing. # **Subsystem 5: Power system** For demonstration purposes the machine will be hooked up to a benchtop powersupply or another reliable form of powersupply similar to a benchtop like a low-grade DC power supply. Another main component that we will add is food safe tubing to ensure that the food does not get contaminated # **Criterions for success:** 1. The conveyor belt is able to move consistently in a way that the bowl is under the right dispenser. 2. Each dispenser is able to dispense food. This would be for both solid and liquid food, such as sauces. 3. Each dispenser is able to dispense the right amount of food or a range of food in a set range. 4. Initial prototype can, on button press, determine exact motor angles to move the components for early demo during semester 5. Final prototype can, on user request, send a signal to the microprocessor to move bowl and dispense mock food into a bowl. # **Team work requirements:** 1. CAD every individual component in a miniature form to depict the real system (1 week) 2. Use Dev board with motor drivers to demonstrate bread board working of Criterion 1 of success. (1 week) 3. Attach devboard solution to CAD physical model to take into account motor backlash and other physical constraints like power supply issues and overheating ( 1 week) 4. Start PCB design based on the chosen direction. Soldering and debugging (3-4 weeks) 5. Final assembly and testing( 1 week) This gives us maybe 1 week of extra leeway for any hindrances. |
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