Drink Dispenser

15 Nov 2019

So I am looking for a way to make a standardized build of a controllable drink dispenser.

I've realized that I will need a peristaltic liquid pump, so my first order of business is to acquire one and attach a power supply to it.

I will then need to figure out how to control it with a lower voltage device (e.g. I see that the pump is 12V DC power, so I will need to solve the problem of using a 5V signal).

Top Comments

beacon_dave over 3 years ago +6

Have you seen this one ? The Drinkmotizer - a Raspberry Pi Drink Mixing Robot
jw0752 over 3 years ago +6

Hi Brian, Three years ago I built a drink dispenser for my Mom who was in a nursing home with Parkinson's which made it difficult for her to get a drink when she needed it. Here a a link to that blog.…
genebren over 3 years ago +4

Here is another drink mixing project: https://www.element14.com/community/community/design-challenges/pichef/blog/2018/01/22/itender#comment-122047

jw0752 over 3 years ago

Hi Brian,
Three years ago I built a drink dispenser for my Mom who was in a nursing home with Parkinson's which made it difficult for her to get a drink when she needed it. Here a a link to that blog.

https://www.element14.com/community/people/jw0752/blog/2016/10/31/power-straw

The first design which was in the main body of the blog did not work out but if you scroll down you will see where I upgraded the design and used a peristaltic pump. This second design worked very well for her as long as she was still able to push the dispenser's actuator button.

John
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shabaz over 3 years ago

Something like this should work (the diagram shows a 5V rail and 5V relay, but you can choose a 12V supply rail and 12V relay if you wish).
Or you could do it all using semiconductors (MOSFETs) and ditch the relay, but from an ease of construction/simplicity point of view, the relay method is probably most straightforward.
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phoenixcomm over 3 years ago

brianchilders Sir that is what relays are for! Since you don't know the glass you can use ultrasonics, to measure the fluid in the glass, this way it should not matter what glass you put there, stem, yete, beer mug, etc.
You would use the ultrasonics or photo recognition for the top and bottom of the empty glass, then start the pump and by monitoring the ultrasonics you can tell how full the glass is...
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genebren over 3 years ago

Here is another drink mixing project:

https://www.element14.com/community/community/design-challenges/pichef/blog/2018/01/22/itender#comment-122047
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BigG over 3 years ago

Not sure if this makes life easier buy Adafruit sell a lower voltage version. Here is link to 5-6V pump: https://www.adafruit.com/product/3910
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