Cocktail Robot

Projects General Guidance
1

Hello,

I haven't been playing around with Arduino for all that long but me and a couple of friends have all been collaborating on making different projects. We had seen the inebriator & barbot and really like the idea. Probably many people's aspirations when getting an Arduino, but we think it could be great to atleast learn more about it.
The basic outline we've found we want out of it is a conveyor or track that moves the glass, and stops to pour different liquids at different positions. We've constructed a basic idea of how we want to get started. We have a set of LED's, where one is power to the system, and on/off function. Next, one LED represents when the conveyor would move in one direction, while another represents spinning in the opposite direction, with triggering one shuts off the other. This conveyor we thought would likely have a motor turning a gear, which a belt would ride on which moves the glass's platform. Next, we figure we would either lift the glass or a lever/rod to dispense the liquid(likely through an optic). The LED representing this currently is turned on by where we want it to stop, moves up then pauses to dispense, then moves back down and resumes the conveyor movement in that direction.
We also have an LCD screen where you can control a remote to select a drink recipe. We still have to integrate this into the representative LED's but are looking in to the rest of the design process.

We've run into a couple spots where it is uncertain about what to use. The first would be the dispensing method. As above, we are thinking optics. With an optic I cannot seem to find anywhere online the answer to if all 3 rods on it having to be depressed to dispense or if only 1 does. We would like a singular rod to actuate the optic and open/close it. Looking online, I've seen Beaumont optics with a single button to depress in the back. For some reason I find these hard to find & order, and also quite expensive although that is not the issue. I was wondering if anyone had insight to one they think would work well, and how to purchase it.
The second has to do with the motors for said rod & the conveyor. After doing a bit of research I've found a stepper would be the right choice, but now am not sure what specifications would work. I'm not sure how to look into what stepper would be sufficient to do either process, and do not want to just buy steppers and see which one would work. Also possible a servo for the button depress if it only has to be at 1 point on the optic. How can i determine what specs i need for the motor?

We want the experience of designing this from scratch, but these questions above have had us stumped for a while. If anyone has any insight or opinions on the project it would be greatly appreciated!

Thank you,

2

IJust some videos on this: The automatic drink mixing machine -- robot bartender cocktail dispenser - YouTube DOLD Mechatronik Cocktail Robot - YouTube
What not to do if you want this to ever get fininshed: Bionic Bar! Robotic Bartenders Mix Drinks on Quantum of the Seas - Royal Caribbean - YouTube

Video #2 gives you a better view. All components are standard, even the fluid dispensers are standard bar equipment.

Basicly you can build the robot for small money using Arduino + CNC Shield.

3

Yes very much like the first video, although we want to make a few changes we think could improve the design. But, the basic movement and dispensing is the same(we cannot find a better way than this to function, seems optimal). The 3rd video we have no desire of doing, seems a little overkill.
But the second video I like the viewpoints. I want to be able to get more speed out of it, as that seems to be moving quite slow-so therefore a different track system, but similar

4

Well, just salvage a 3d-printer, there you have all components you need - including fast belt drive.

5

It looks to me as though the three arms on an optic are part of a single assembly, so pressing one of them should be enough. That said, using a single rod would mean that you would need to position the optic on each bottle quite accurately which would be an annoyance.

Why not simply have a ring at the top of the rod that means you'll hit all three arms whatever the orientation of the optic?

6

I'll look into finding a 3D printer, that's a good idea! Just not sure if its gonna be more expensive/difficult than buying rods with a motor & belt drive. Thanks!

And that is true, I had thought to have a T arm coming off the motor that would actuate to optic, but may end up just doing a ring.. just wanted to make sure I could do it by pressing one of the optic bars to open it if that seemed better in the design