The Uncle Bob Shot

Do you have that one uncle that pours the perfect shot? The problem he's not always around for a shot. Introducing the Uncle Bob Shot!

IntermediateShowcase (no instructions)Over 2 days124

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Particle Argon

Adafruit RGB Backlight LCD - 16x2

Chenbo 1kg Load Cell HX711 A/D

Humphrey 120v Solenoid Valve

Jumper wires (generic)

Software apps and online services

Particle Build Web IDE

IFTTT SmartThings service

Hand tools and fabrication machines

Drill / Driver, 20 V

Hand Saw

Story

Do you have that one uncle that always pour the perfect shot at family events? The problem we ran into was that our uncle Bob isn't always there to pour our shots. This is why we created a devices that will pour you those same strong shots every time just like uncle Bob would.

To use the Uncle Bob Shot you just have to place your glass on the platform and press the button. The button on the front will trigger the solenoid to release the liquor or mixed drink into your glass. The load cell will start to calculate the amount of fluid in your glass and display the amount in ounces on the LCD. Once the proper amount is in your glass, a signal will be sent back to the solenoid to stop dispensing the fluid.

As displayed in the video our load cell would never read any values above or below zero, no matter the pressure placed on it. This caused a chain reaction in the rest of the system. Due to no values being calculated the LCD could not display anything. With the LCD and the Load cell constantly reading zero, the solenoid always thought the glass was empty and would continually dispense the liquid. It is our belief that the load cell was faulty which created this problem in the rest of our project.

The picture displays the wiring for the load cell to the Argon

The picture above displays the button wiring with the solenoid.

The picture above displays the wiring for the LCD

Load Cell Readings

Code

// This #include statement was automatically added by the Particle IDE.
#include <HX711ADC.h>



#define DOUT  0
#define CLK  2
HX711ADC scale(DOUT, CLK);
float temperature;

void LED(const char *event, const char *data)
{
    String pew = data;
    temperature = pew.toFloat();
}
 float calibration_factor = 535; // this calibration factor is adjusted according to my load cell
float units;
float units1;

void setup() {
    int ledB=D6;
    int ledG=D7;
    int ledR=D8;

pinMode(ledB,OUTPUT);
pinMode(ledG,OUTPUT);
pinMode(ledR,OUTPUT);


 Serial.begin(9600);  
 Serial.println("Press T to tare");
scale.set_scale(calibration_factor); //Adjust to this calibration factor
 scale.tare(); 
}



void loop() {
units = scale.get_units(), 5;
 if (units < 0)
 {
   units = 0.00;
 }

 units1 = (units/29.57);
 
 
    Particle.publish("Ounces", String(units1),PUBLIC);  //subscribe to this mouse event.
    delay(1000);  //delay to prevent overloading the cloud communication.
   Particle.subscribe("LED_Caleb",LED);
   if (temperature<1.1) {
            digitalWrite(D6,HIGH);
            digitalWrite(D7,LOW);
       digitalWrite(D8,LOW);
   }
 else if (temperature<2.1){
  digitalWrite(D6,LOW);
       digitalWrite(D7,HIGH);
            digitalWrite(D8,LOW);
  }
  else {
           digitalWrite(D6,LOW);
                digitalWrite(D7,LOW);
      digitalWrite(D8,HIGH);
  }


 
 if(Serial.available())
 {
   char temp = Serial.read();
   if(temp == 't' || temp == 'T')
     scale.tare();  //Reset the scale to zero      
 }
}

// include the library code:
#include <LiquidCrystal.h>

// initialize the library with the numbers of the interface pins
LiquidCrystal lcd(5,4,3,2,1,0)

;void setup()
{
// set up the LCD's number of columns and rows:
lcd.begin(16, 2);
lcd.clear();

}

void loop()
{
lcd.setCursor(0,0); // Sets the cursor to col 0 and row 0
lcd.print("SensorVal1: "); // Prints Sensor Val: to LCD

lcd.setCursor(0,1); // Sets the cursor to col 1 and row 0
lcd.print("SensorVal2: "); // Prints Sensor Val: to LCD

}

The Uncle Bob Shot