The Ben Heck Show Needs Your Help!- Episode Live!

RE: The Ben Heck Show Needs Your Help!- Episode Live!

element14Dave — Mon, 06 Oct 2014 19:08:42 GMT

Check out how Ben used your ideas ...

Episode 153: Ben Heck’s Crowdsourced Can Crusher Part 1 Episode

RE: The Ben Heck Show Needs Your Help!- Episode Live!

mscammells — Wed, 13 Aug 2014 12:32:05 GMT

Monty Python foot with a combination of vertical mechanical pressure and vacuum pump to suck the air out of the can. the suction should buckle the can sides to reduce mechanical pressure required .

the important part is that it looks like a Monty python foot.

RE: The Ben Heck Show Needs Your Help!- Episode Live!

Former Member — Sun, 10 Aug 2014 12:10:51 GMT

My idea come from Danish machines that scans a mark ont he can or bottle and then crushes it. We have a system where a can or bottle have a value of say 1$ each so people have a lot more reason to return them, hence we have a recycle rate of about 85-90%

but the crusher part is a rotating drum with a chamber carved out. as the drum rotates the can will fall in and fill the chamber, the drum then rotates a quarter turn and a piston crushes the can. Then another quarter turn and the can falls in a bin ready for collection from the recycle company. to make things faster for the person returning the cans the cans are scanned and tipped in a hopper where the drum is at the buttom.

the scanner will sort the bottles etc so that big 2 liter bottles goes in one hopper, cans in another. Glass bottles are taken aside and put in the same box you buy them in. or you can return a box of say 24 glass bottles and it will just scan the hole box-

if i should vote for some of the videos i would say the bicycle crusher, its fast, the most noiseless, and it can be scaled up easy

RE: The Ben Heck Show Needs Your Help!- Episode Live!

Former Member — Sat, 09 Aug 2014 19:24:19 GMT

dual scissor lifts that open towards one another powered by a gear motor, should make for an easy and compact build

RE: The Ben Heck Show Needs Your Help!- Episode Live!

Former Member — Sat, 09 Aug 2014 08:21:48 GMT

Ben,you can use some Arduino or AVR! All projects made with Arduino or AVR by you are useful.

RE: The Ben Heck Show Needs Your Help!- Episode Live!

jsmithb117 — Fri, 08 Aug 2014 20:32:30 GMT

No matter how you crush the can, you have to launch it (5-10 feet) into the recycle bin. You could recycle the old crush solenoid for the launching mechanism.

RE: The Ben Heck Show Needs Your Help!- Episode Live!

Former Member — Fri, 08 Aug 2014 00:05:21 GMT

Hi Ben, here's my design

https://www.icloud.com/iw/#keynote/BAIdJrUP-cVRLdA-qqyB-oszkejyVIZU8cmF/Presentation_2

RE: The Ben Heck Show Needs Your Help!- Episode Live!

Former Member — Thu, 07 Aug 2014 19:27:34 GMT

I am looking to purchase a one handed xbox1 controller for my grandson who lost the use of his left arm in a fatal auto accident when he was 3 years old which he lost his mother father and sister. He suffered multiple injuries and has overcome so much. His disability keeps him from doing many things and he spends much time gaming but frustrated that he cannot keep up. He is 14 years old now can you help us?

RE: The Ben Heck Show Needs Your Help!- Episode Live!

skorium — Wed, 06 Aug 2014 18:05:02 GMT

Hi Ben and the community,

I have an idea too about this can crusher. I saw Andy has already give half of it. Oversized gear wheels with the can going between them, and instead of go to the recycle bin maybe go to a small furnace to melt the aluminum and build small aluminum pieces we can use and design for different projects.

This is my first contribution on Element14 community, but I'm following TBHS and the community news for more than 1 year now.

RE: The Ben Heck Show Needs Your Help!- Episode Live!

hans_debruin — Tue, 05 Aug 2014 22:00:32 GMT

I see a game forming here: Indiana Jones and the Cancrusher of Doom.

It's like with the Temple of Doom where the guard gets flattened by this enormous roller that crushes stone. But in this case it's the can that gets crushed.

And you need to prevent that from happening.

You get 3 cans, like balls in a pinball machine, and you need to survive an obstacle course. The further you get, the more points. With all kinds of bonusses for skill shots and other challenges.

It won't work with rollers though. The gears that were mentioned earlier are better suited here. Otherwise the can will just roll away.

RE: The Ben Heck Show Needs Your Help!- Episode Live!

Former Member — Tue, 05 Aug 2014 18:37:04 GMT

you could have a weight that you lift with a motor and then drop on the can

RE: The Ben Heck Show Needs Your Help!- Episode Live!

stprovost — Tue, 05 Aug 2014 04:01:59 GMT

How about two rollers rotating towards each other that crush the can as it goes between them.

Step One: there would be a sensor (located at the top of the chute) detecting a can being dropped in the chute.

Step Two: rollers would spin and crush the can upon contact.

Step Three: the crushed can would fall into a bin.

Step Four: The rollers would stop after a predetermined time has elapsed with the top sensor not detecting any more cans.

Simple.

RE: The Ben Heck Show Needs Your Help!- Episode Live!

Former Member — Tue, 05 Aug 2014 02:52:34 GMT

Something more 'portable' might be nice... you never know when you're going to find a mess of soda cans that need recyclin'

[View:/resized-image/__size/620x838/__key/commentfiles/f7d226abd59f475c9d224a79e3f0ec07-39ebd96d-3ebb-41b1-a2bb-8fb260428169/8304.contentimage_5F00_177395.jpg:620:838]

RE: The Ben Heck Show Needs Your Help!- Episode Live!

amyatt — Mon, 04 Aug 2014 06:00:53 GMT

Someone else has already posted this video, but I too would love to see something like this (might be a 3 or 4 part series).

[View:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DYM9kJFZgmg:520:333]

RE: The Ben Heck Show Needs Your Help!- Episode Live!

Former Member — Sun, 03 Aug 2014 17:54:47 GMT

Hi Ben,

One of my school project for control technology class, was to use a Given stepper motor to crush a can.

I did a quick google search and found out we need 800N to crush a can vertically, there's no torque spec in the datasheet for the stepper motor.

A popsicle stick and it's length, and a kitchen scale did the work, the torque was 12.94 N*cm, some more calculation told me that i need at least MA of 1:52 to crush a can using this stepper motor.

[View:/resized-image/__size/256x192/__key/commentfiles/f7d226abd59f475c9d224a79e3f0ec07-39ebd96d-3ebb-41b1-a2bb-8fb260428169/7624.contentimage_5F00_177392.jpg:256:192][View:/resized-image/__size/256x192/__key/commentfiles/f7d226abd59f475c9d224a79e3f0ec07-39ebd96d-3ebb-41b1-a2bb-8fb260428169/4571.contentimage_5F00_177393.jpg:256:192]

For the smaller system and highest MA, i have decided to use a worm gear system. That's done by printing a gear(shown in pic above), with a nut insert in the center, then a bolt sits in the nut.

So when the gear turns, it slowly pushes the bolt forward or backward. Kind of like a vice.

Here's a shot of the full assembly.

[View:/resized-image/__size/258x193/__key/commentfiles/f7d226abd59f475c9d224a79e3f0ec07-39ebd96d-3ebb-41b1-a2bb-8fb260428169/2437.contentimage_5F00_177394.jpg:258:193]

the final MA was about 1:220, a bit overkill but that's the least i can get using stuff lying around.

it took about a minute and half to crush a can, but i am sure you can get a high torque motor

i have attach a 3d pdf for the design for your reference. Click here

Here is the second improved version but never got a chance to build. Click Here for 2.0

Big fan of yours by the way! learned a lot from you.

Colin Ho