Candy Dispenser

Description: This Candy Dispenser project assigned us to work together in a group of 3 to create a candy dispenser that automatically dispenses 5-10 skittles at a time. My group was me, Emma, and Keira. The machine would have to be powered by a servo motor and a micro-bit, which would turn a piece to release the candy into a tray. 

Brainstorm: Our ideas were that the machine would be shaped like a box. There would be a little hole in the back where a rod would go through. The rod would be connected to the microbit on one end and to the turning piece on the other end. There would also be a ramp at the top that leads into the turning piece. The turning piece would have an indentation at the top, which would hold the skittles. Then, when the turning piece would turn, then the skittles would drop down into another ramp, that would enter into the tray. The microbit would be programmed to turn the rod. We originally wanted to make it castle themed, but we ended up on making it a holiday theme.

Procedure: We started out by desiging the box and how big we wanted it to be. We decided to make it pretty small, so we started by designing all the shape on Tinkercad. We had to make each wall separately because we had decided to laser cut. Then, we laser cut the rectangle shape, glued it together, and then started designing the other parts of the candy dispenser. We 3D printed the turning piece, the rod, and the ramps, and then we laser cut the tray. After putting it all together, the last thing we had to do was to program the micro-bit and then attach the servo motor to the rod. However, this was really tricky, and we ended up having to tape it. The tape wasn't very stable.

Reflection: Overall, I think that this project was really fun and pretty successful. It ended up working, but there were still a few things we could've worked on, like making the attachment between the servo motor and the rod more secure. However, I think that we could've easily fixed these mistakes if we had more time.

S: What worked: Something that worked was that we worked really well together in a team and split up the work well. We all worked on the TINKERCAD and 3D printing, and I mainly worked on the laser cutting and making adjustments on TINKERCAD when something didn't go well. Emma and Keira mainly worked on gluing, putting everything together, and the code for the micro-bit.

O: What didn't work: Something that didn't work was that the attachment between the rod and servo motor wasn't secure enough.

U: What did you learn: I learned how a candy dispenser can work, and I also learned how transfer information from TINKERCAD to a laser cutting machine.

L: What prevented you from having a successful project: Something that prevented me from having a successful project is that I think our time wasn't enough. I think we probably could've done much better if we had gotten a few more days to work on the project.

WISCR: The two traits from WISCR that best described me and my team during this project was I (Insightful and critical thinkers), and S (Self motivated). We were always trying to figure out what could be improved and how to solve problems. Also, even though this was a hard project and took many tries, we never gave up.