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Author: kellyhensen
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Episode 468: Socially Distanced Halloween Candy Dispenser

 

How can trick or treaters receive candy from house to house on Halloween, while staying safe during a pandemic? Also, how can we stop our hard-earned candy from being taken in the first five minutes -- like, if a bowl was just left out? Watch Adam solve both of these questions using a Raspberry Pi with facial detection using OpenCV, an ultrasonic sensor, and an auger dispenser to create a smart candy dispenser.

Bill of Material:

Product Name Manufacturer Quantity Buy Kit
USB Cable, USB Type A Plug, USB Type C Plug TRIPP-LITE 1 Buy Now
Audio / Video Cable Assembly, Micro HDMI Plug, HDMI Plug RASPBERRY-PI 1 Buy Now
RPI NOIR CAMERA BOARD RASPBERRY-PI 1 Buy Now
HC-SR04 Ultrasonic Sensor MCM 1 Buy Now
3D Printer Filament, 1.75mm Dia, Orange, PLA TONER PLASTICS 1 Buy Now
Single Board Computer, Raspberry Pi 4 Model B, 4GB DDR4 RAM RASPBERRY-PI 1 Buy Now
Stepper Motor, NEMA-17 ADAFRUIT 1 Buy Now
Alphanumeric LCD, 16 x 2, White on Blue MIDAS 1 Buy Now
14 Conductor, 28 AWG, Ribbon Cable 3M 1 Buy Now
ADAFRUIT TB6612 1.2A DC/STEPPER MOTOR DRIVER ADAFRUIT 1 Buy Now

 

Additional Parts:

 

Product Name

Candy, variety pack used in project

3ft RPI Camera Ribbon Cable

5v Relay

Large Cheese Puff Jar
Attachments:
Episode 468 Resources.zip
element14 presents
Socially Distanced Halloween Candy Dispenser

element14 presents  |  About Adam |  Project Videos

Anonymous

  • Gotta love that AI pareidolia!

     

    I love all the countermeasures you put in place to prevent people from abusing the automatic system

     

    Looking forward to some footage of it working in situ!

  • in reply to aspork42

    Good question! It works OK in low light. In the shot where I had a rectangle over my face, it was in pretty low light. I've found that false positives are more likely in low light than in a well-lit area. So the facial detection is more accurate in bright light than in low light, but it works ok. I'm going to leave the device on my porch on Halloween, so I plan to leave at least one light on.

  • Awesome job! I think this is perfect for a safe Trick or Treating experience.

    I love the Jump Scare addition.

    One question - would this work in low light?

  • in reply to kalebclark

    Thanks Kaleb! The support difference was significant. I wanna say it was going to take over a day -- just to print half of it-- vertically; while in the horizontal position it printing around 10 hours with little supports. Also, I did 3d print a box for the front of the auger to attach to. Without it attached, it drooped alot at the front. 

  • Awesome project Adam! Great solution for the auger print. I can only imagine what the supports would look like on that! Do you remember how much difference in time it was with support vs your solution? Also, was there a support on the front of the auger, or just attached to the plywood box at the motor end?

     

    well done!

    -Kaleb