drink

14 Articles

A picture of the JagerMachine consisting of rectangular, desktop sized drink serving machine with a wooden varnish, a 3.5 inch touchscreen on the front face on top and a cavity with a shot glass in it, lit up by blue leds, with liquid pouring into it.

Shoot An Email To Get A Shot

October 17, 2022 by 4 Comments

[_Pegor] wanted to create a shot pouring machine for their friends birthday. Unfortunately, the build wasn’t done in time, but at least the JagerMachine is finished now so that others can use it.

The JagerMachine has a peristaltic pump that moves liquid from a reservoir hidden in the back of the machine to the glass in front. The machine has a 3.5 inch DSI touch screen display for user input and a WS2812B LED ring for creating a small light show when the drinks are served. A 3.3 V to 5 V level shifter is used to power the LED ring and a motor driver module is used to drive the peristaltic pump motor. It looks like there’s a “shot glass detection” feature that uses a 3D printed mini platform with a notch for a magnet so that when a glass is placed on top of it, the hall sensor can detect the presence of the nearby magnet.

Part of the charm of this project is the software stack on the Raspberry Pi that allows for novel interaction, including being able to serve drinks from the receipt of emails. Using the Raspberry Pi as the controlling device allows for this rich set of interfacing options, including easily allowing the ability to drive the LEDs, detect the presence of the shot glass, along with establishing network connectivity. The setup procedures are all documented in the repository for anyone wanting to see how this type of functionality might transfer to their own project.

Drink mixing robots are, of course, a thing. ranging from small and cute to full shelf.

Centaur Costume Features Drinks Cooler And Walking Legs

November 12, 2021 by 4 Comments

Let’s say it’s Halloween, and you’re a big fan of centaurs. At the same time, you want to be easily able to store your drinks on ice and always have them to hand. Well, this costume from [David Yakos] might be the one for you.

Construction is simple. Two small bike wheels were fitted to the cooler using bits of a broken chair, and the other end of the cooler is simply fitted around the wearer’s waist with a strap.

The rear centaur legs are carved out of foam board, and attached to the rear wheels with a bolt through the spokes. The top of each leg is attached to a rod, which slides into the frame holding the wheels on. It keeps the top of the legs roughly where they should be but lets them move, allowing the legs to “walk” as the wheels rotate.

It’s not exactly an advanced build, but we simply love the idea of costumes that keep drinks cold all night. Hiding the cooler as a centaur’s body is really just the icing on the cake. Of course, if you’ve got your own costume design for keeping your beverages chilled and frosty, do let us know. Video after the break.

Continue reading “Centaur Costume Features Drinks Cooler And Walking Legs” →

Never Go To The Office Breakroom Again

June 26, 2018 by 38 Comments

If you’re tired of having to make small talk with random people in the office break room every time you need a cup of coffee, or simply don’t have the time to get up to pour yourself some more, it would be nice if there was a way you could have your cup filled for you, right at your desk. With this new drink dispenser, you won’t have to get up or even pour your drinks yourself!

We’ve certainly seen plenty of automatic drink makers, but those are more suited to parties and complicated drink mixing. This beverage dispenser is more for the person who knows their tastes and simply wants to save some time. It’s also much simpler, using a peristaltic pump for serving a single liquid from a large bottle into a glass, and using a load cell to know when to stop filling. The peristaltic pump is a little slow though, so it’s best to set the glass back in the dispenser and let it top you off each time.

We’re a big fan of time savers around here, especially when it comes to improving workflow. Of course, the best time saver is a clean, well-organized shop which will help you out whether you’re building a drink dispenser or anything else.

Continue reading “Never Go To The Office Breakroom Again” →

A Grandfather Clock BarBot

February 1, 2018 by 10 Comments

As the saying goes, it’s five o’clock somewhere; when the clock finally strikes the hour, that same clock can pour you a drink thanks to redditor [Diggedypomme].

This bar-clock can dispense beverages with up to four different spirits and four mixers, and takes orders over voice, keyboard, or web-controls. A belt-driven drink loading platform pushes out through a spring-loaded door and once the vessel is in place and the order received, peristaltic pumps dispense the spirits while servos open taps for the mixers — a far easier method to administer the often carbonated liquids. A Raspberry Pi acts as this old-timer’s brain, an Arduino controls the lights, and a HAT to controls the servos. Here’s a more in-depth tour of what’s going on behind the bar, but check out the video after the break for a full run through of a few drink orders!

Continue reading “A Grandfather Clock BarBot” →

Push Button, Receive Beverage!

July 21, 2017 by 9 Comments

Here’s a rec-room ready hack: an automatic drink dispenser.

[truebassB]’s dispenser operates around a 555 timer, adjusted by a potentiometer. Push a button and a cup pours in a few seconds, or hold the other button to dispense as much as you want.

The dispenser is made from MDF and particle board glued together, with some LEDs and paper prints to spruce it up. Just don’t forget a small spill sink for any miscalculated pours. You needn’t fret over the internals either, as the parts are easily acquired: a pair of momentary switches, a 12V micro air pump, a brass nozzle, food-safe pvc tube,  a custom 555 timing circuit — otherwise readily available online — a toggle switch, a power supply plug plus adapter and a 12V battery.

Continue reading “Push Button, Receive Beverage!” →

HardWino Takes The Effort Out Of Happy Hour

August 15, 2016 by 5 Comments

A personal bartender is hard to come by these days. What has the world come to when a maker has to build their own? [Pierre Charlier] can lend you a helping hand vis-à-vis with HardWino, an open-source cocktail maker.

The auto-bar is housed on a six-slot, rotating beverage holder, controlled by an Arduino Mega and accepts drink orders via a TFT screen. Stepper motors and L298 driver boards are supported on 3D printed parts and powered by a standard 12V DC jack. Assembling HardWino is a little involved, so [Charlier]  has provided a thorough step-by-step process in the video after the break.

Continue reading “HardWino Takes The Effort Out Of Happy Hour” →

There Is No Spoon; Automatic Self Stirring Mug

January 24, 2016 by 24 Comments

Sometimes it’s helpful to realize the truth that there is no spoon. At least, not with [Ronaldo]’s automatic self-stirring mug. At first it was just a small propeller in the bottom of the mug that turned on by pushing a button in the handle, but this wasn’t as feature-rich as [Ronaldo] hoped it could be, so he decided to see just how deep the automatic beverage-mixing rabbit hole goes.

The first thing to do was to get a microcontroller installed to handle the operation of the motor. The ATtiny13a was perfect for the job since it’s only using one output pin to control the motor, and can be configured to only draw 0.5 microamps in power-saving mode. This ensures a long life for the two AAA batteries that power the microcontroller and the motor.

As far as operation goes, the motor operates in different modes depending on how many times the button in the handle is pushed. It can be on continuously or it can operate at pre-determined intervals for a certain amount of time, making sure to keep the beverage thoroughly mixed for as long as the power lasts. Be sure to check out the video below for a detailed explanation of all of the operating modes. We could certainly see some other possible uses for more interesting beverages as well.

Continue reading “There Is No Spoon; Automatic Self Stirring Mug” →