- The largest constraint on this project is going to be time… Theres really not much of it. My project is very multi-faceted. Im going to need to construct the shell itself, figure out the placement of the containers, insulate the box as well as figure out a cooling system for the drinks, set up the motors with relays, hook up the tubing and implement some mechanism for mixing the drinks, and finally write the software. These are a lot of tasks for one person. Luckily I do have plans on how to solve all of these, now it’s just about doing them.
- The second constraint is cost. I have already determined that I’m probably going to go over the $150 budget. However, this is a project Ive wanted to do for a while so I am alright with that. But I still will need to find cheep solutions to a lot of problems.
- The next constraint is size. I want this drink maker to house 8 containers, motors, relays, a power supply, and all the tubing, and it still needs to fit on a normal counter. Is this possible? We’re going to find out…
- Another constraint is going to be pouring speed. How fast will this be able to make a drink? If it takes 5 times longer than a human, is it even worth it?
- Last but not least, I am constrained by trying to figure out how to give this a modern aesthetic with cheep materials. Many modern appliances use stainless steel which I obviously cannot. I have a couple cheeper alternatives that will also make this easier to manufacture.
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I think this is an especially cool idea reminiscent of the coke machines at move theaters and whatnot. I especially like the fact that you are looking to make something more small scale! I can definitely see this having multiple models for more commercial purposes as well as home applications! Have you put thought into the longevity of your particular prototype? Knowing that this is going to eventually be targeted toward larger scale production have you put any though into DFM DFA? I’m excited to see/ drink how this turns out if we end up going through to the expo!
Davis,
I think that this is a really cool project and I can’t wait to see how it turns out! I have had to order power supplies and stepper motors for my Senior Design team and I have found that Stepper Online has a good selection of power supplies and motors and is reasonable pricing. Here is a link to one of the ones we purchased: https://www.omc-stepperonline.com/power-supply/400w-12v-33a-115230v-switching-power-supply-stepper-motor-cnc-router-kits-s-400-12.html?mfp=47-output-voltage-v%5B12%5D
I agree this projects largest constraint will be the limit on time. As for the drink maker I believe it’ll be a really cool project that’ll be usable. With so many components I believe as long as you design and plan early it’ll be totally doable.