I did it because it can be done.
I built two versions with cheap and fragile material which cannot be use in real application. They are built as the proof of concept. Someday, I will make a real one.
Components
1.Arduino Uno , $3.5~10
2.KY-040 rotary encoder $1.0~
3.I2C LCD 16×2 (I use a 20×4 LCD, but I design to use 16×2) $3.5~
4.Stepper motor 28BYJ-48 w/ ULN2003 driver board $2.5~$5
5.(Optional) a microswitch or photo interrupter $1~
6.Buzzer $1~
7. I built two versions as prototype to see how it will work. They are cheaply built. The material cost are under $4.
7a.v1:$.89 plastic plates from Walmart, and small cups from Daiso.
7b.v2:Some clip wood with elastic bandage as the transport band.
v1:
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3FI-BXuH_0[/ame]
v2:
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhqO-yYpklw[/ame]
V1 is not as simple as I have thought. In addition to supporting the plate with uneven load, a extra pipe or track is needed to keep steam from boiling kettle away. The open ended cups/pipes also make it difficult to use powder, like yeast nutrient.
V2 is more flexible because you can put as many hop holders as you want. The holders can be designed to be removable for cleaning. It will need a hook to hook on the boil kettle, though.
The biggest potential issue, except the construction of the dropper itself, should be the torque of the motor. 28BYJ-48 w/ ULN2003 is very cheap and powerful for its price. However, it might not be powerful enough. If that is the case, I would turn to a continuous servo instead.
The sketch and detail information is here:
http://vito.tw/lazysusan-auto-hop-dropper/
I built two versions with cheap and fragile material which cannot be use in real application. They are built as the proof of concept. Someday, I will make a real one.
Components
1.Arduino Uno , $3.5~10
2.KY-040 rotary encoder $1.0~
3.I2C LCD 16×2 (I use a 20×4 LCD, but I design to use 16×2) $3.5~
4.Stepper motor 28BYJ-48 w/ ULN2003 driver board $2.5~$5
5.(Optional) a microswitch or photo interrupter $1~
6.Buzzer $1~
7. I built two versions as prototype to see how it will work. They are cheaply built. The material cost are under $4.
7a.v1:$.89 plastic plates from Walmart, and small cups from Daiso.
7b.v2:Some clip wood with elastic bandage as the transport band.
v1:
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3FI-BXuH_0[/ame]
v2:
[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhqO-yYpklw[/ame]
V1 is not as simple as I have thought. In addition to supporting the plate with uneven load, a extra pipe or track is needed to keep steam from boiling kettle away. The open ended cups/pipes also make it difficult to use powder, like yeast nutrient.
V2 is more flexible because you can put as many hop holders as you want. The holders can be designed to be removable for cleaning. It will need a hook to hook on the boil kettle, though.
The biggest potential issue, except the construction of the dropper itself, should be the torque of the motor. 28BYJ-48 w/ ULN2003 is very cheap and powerful for its price. However, it might not be powerful enough. If that is the case, I would turn to a continuous servo instead.
The sketch and detail information is here:
http://vito.tw/lazysusan-auto-hop-dropper/