We had several initial ideas, starting out with an autonomous following car, a gyro balanced serving tray, a smart home system consisting of locks and alarm system. And an autonomous drink mixer. After some discussion and consideration, we’ve decided upon the drink mixer, due to its unique and more achievable concept.
A Requirements
Our system should be able to
- Positioning the moving tray directly below the desired dispenser.
- Dispense the correct amount of liquid in the glass.
- Able to choose predetermined drinks with multiple ingredients.
B Requirements
Our system should be able to
- Recognize the different sizes of glass using QR image recognition to avoid spillage
- GUI to allow easier interaction with the system to choose desired drink
- A function that allows monitoring of the levels of liquid left in the reservoir
- Order drinks through an own app (android)
C Requirements
Our system should be able to
- The ability to queue up drinks allowing multiple simultaneous orders.
- Lime dispenser
- Ice crusher
- Mortar to squeeze lime
D Requirements
Our system should be able to
- Soda dispenser
- Robotic arm to move finished drink and replace with new glass
Our group consists of only computer engineering students. This gave us the disadvantage of a lack in combined knowledge regarding the mechanical and electrical aspects of our project. This issue was under consideration when we selected our group project, which resulted in the selection of a more achievable system with the mechanical and electrical aspects in mind. We opted for a more programming intensive task.
We’ve gathered inspiration for our autonomous mixer from several DIY projects linked below:
Version 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z7GkGeZrb2Y
Version 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZtfW2e2Cp0
Version 3: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=49msONntdEQ
Version 4: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=guB0JYBL63Y&t=54s