[Stuff Made Here] got fed up with the hassle of washing their dog, and in traditional engineer fashion, decided that automating the process would solve the problem. However, as science fiction writers love to warn us, automation and living things don’t always mix.

The concept, much like a car wash, is to have an arch-like structure spray the dog with oscillating nozzles. A secondary nozzle provides a simple air drying function on each of the pods. An “undercarriage” nozzle of similar design runs in a channel below the dog to ensure all mud has been removed. The nozzles move along linear rails, driven by a DC motor. All the electronics are water proofed with the AC power source a distance away to provide additional electrical protection.

Unlike other projects of the past, [Stuff Made Here] set out to make this project without fancy metal working tools. Fortunately, it’s a project well suited to SLA 3D printing. While probably printable on an FDM printer, the parts need to withstand water back pressure. While there are better ways of doing this, the nozzles are mounted on an arch made of two bent conduits with legs welded on. The nozzles are mechanically connected with linkages to control the spraying direction.

However, [Stuff Made Here] couldn’t resist the urge to use a new CNC lathe when it arrived, so the quest to avoid fancy tools was lost to the desire to play with new fancy tools. Also, a grate under the under-carriage nozzle would have taken too long to source, so instead a plasma cutter made short work of some sheet metal. Granted, the parts could easily be 3D printed and/or sourced online.

Besides the fact that the dog is terrified of the machine and won’t use it, it works brilliantly! Sound off in the comments if you think [Stuff Made Here]’s attempt at making a project without fancy tools was successful.