Electronic Halloween Candy dispenser
Electronic Halloween Candy dispenser
Published 2017-10-23T09:52:14+00:00
This object was made in Tinkercad. https://www.tinkercad.com/things/2NdWk4KuW9D
These are all files for a Halloween candy machine I'm making. Basically there are two dispensers(each with a stepper motor dispenser) and you press a button and it 'dispenses' a piece of candy. I entered this in the Treats competition since it dispenses candy and has a lot more with electronics. The way it works is by the stepper motor turning and lowering the door to the pipe, some candy falls, and the door goes back up. I'm using a Particle Electron(this is connected to the Internet) as the main board. A cool feature is that when a button is pressed I can get a text telling me when the button was pressed(I set this up on IFTTT) and the lcd works well to. Since the board is constantly connected to wifi, I plan to add a function to tell how hot it inside the dispenser, and some sensor on top of the pipes, possibly an ultrasonic, to notify me when the candy is low and I need to come back. Also, the buttons light up red and fade in and out when it's dark. In the pictures you might see 'Hang on.... ' on the lcd with seconds counting down after it, that is so after a button is pressed, it can't be spammed until the count down is over by obnoxious kids. All of these pieces took around about 100 hours to print(I had to print each file twice since there are two dispensers). Also there are two different dispenser files since I have two different stepper motors. All of the files you can print twice since they form the pipes except for the dispensers(Candy D. Pt.3-2 and CandyBase). I included all of the .gcode files(downloaded from Cura) and the .stl files which were downloaded fom Tinkercad. The dispenser itself actually works really well-there is no clogs, candy falls good, and personally I haven't found a glitch yet(but when you're gluing them together make sure glue doesn't go too far into the pipe!) The reason this is all 3D printed is because candy would most likely get clogged in circular pipes bought from somewhere else, and you're saving money printing the objects since pipes are sort of expensive for a lot. If you would like the code, or I accidentally forgot one of the files, or have any questions, please email me directly at: jrdmini@icloud.com. Here are some notes about the files:
- CandyBase and Candy D. Pt.3-2 are each of the dispensers(because of the two different steppers). I used an NEMA 17 stepper, and another one that was a little smaller.
- CandyCatch is the same thing as CandyOTop-4 except one is .gcode and one is .stl(it's the part the makes sure the wall sliding up doesn't go too far)
- PipeConnector and ConnectorPipe are two different files. ConnectorPipe is the pipe that goes straight up and PipeConnector connects the dispensers and the elbow pipes.
- CandyDGears are for the seppter motor and the door that slides up and down
Make sure to use supports on prints that have large holes in them. I printed the objects with rafts on some. My printer's dimensions are 120x120x120 so the prints are made in sections so people should be able to print them.
Date published | 23/10/2017 |
Dimensions | Printer dimension: 120x120x120 |
Technology | FDM |
Complexity | Medium |