IVData @IVData@makerdon.org

Finally got my lego saturn V on the wall.

I'd like to take a moment to praise d-sub connectors (DB-25 etc). They're awesome. I'm surprised by the current they can handle every time I look it up. You can't connect them backwards and they're easy to solder to.

All of the motors on the Cocktailor are powered through a DB-25. A lot of my model planes have DB-9s in them to connect wings etc.

I've replaced the mfc522 card reader with a Pn532 (temporarily wired for now). The pn has a more mature library for it, and seems to solve the issue of cards being partially read.

It also uses fewer pins (UART vs SPI) and so I can wire up the loadcell using all existing wiring.

I think this graph is going to be really handy to troubleshoot calibration etc.

While I've been quiet the robot has hosted an after-work drinks session that went really well 😁

The work on the cocktail robot slowly continues. A loadcell arrived in the post so im setting it up for glass detection and calibration of the pumps.

Part 3 of my New Zealand FPV tour has been posted. Here's a playlist of all of the parts so far: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2zDl5fO-7Qw&list=PL3p50PSfHDUB76wDvN2BD5TYA1xeGuyjL

One last minute problem was the slow bubbling of soda caused the bottles to pressurize and continually leak. I thought air would slowly leak out through the pumps, but no. Stressful! Not sure why the Sprite i tested with didnt do this. Solved by putting a pinhole in the side of each bottle 🤔

So i had a party, it mostly went well! There's a few bugs, and there are definitely improvements I'd like to make - but all the patrons were happy 😁 first thing to look at is why the calibration periodically changes..

The flash gives the user some immediate feedback. Also, i can use my gym card.

Guests get a rfid tag. When the machine gets a tag it hasn't seen it asks for a name, which the guests put in arcade style with the joystick. Did I mention people are coming over this Saturday? 😂

I think i like the "minimalism and puns" aesthetic.

Last night I also tested the 2 air pumps for dispensing carbonated or large volumes of liquid. They work well but don't create a vacuum when run in reverse, so those two nozzles still leak for a while.

The problem with the old prototype was the nozzle would drip heaps. Pumps now run backwards for a bit when they're done to suck liquid back up the nozzle - stole this idea from 3D printing.

Progres: new clear nozzle, rfid logo for people to tap their tags against, testing with gross green coloured water

The first edit from our New Zealand South Island tour is out. And there's more where this came from!
https://youtu.be/2zDl5fO-7Qw

The cocktail robot now uses entity framework! I'm working on the admin/management functions first (adding recipies etc) to make testing easier. User and ingredient management is done. I also got the RFID reader working.

Is this how I should be reporting on this, replying to the first toot about it?

Success! Ran my first "recipe" - a series of steps that make a drink. Each step can run any number of pumps for any length of time.

So I've just had my first instance of the software locking up while the pumps are running. The pi is unresponsive and I cant stop the pumps spinning 😂

Really glad i got up early this morning. (sound might be loud). #flying