Skittles Dispenser

If this page looks a little like Mac's Portfolio , it is. We were assigned partners for the project, and we could copy each other's portfolios.

Project Description: In a group, design and build an automated Skittles dispenser using TinkerCAD, controlled by a Microbit. The Microbit will trigger the dispenser to release 5 - 10 Skittles when prompted. The whole Skittles dispenser had to fit in a 5" x 5" x 7" box.

Brainstorm: Our first design brainstorm was a screw. The storage was supposed to feed into a screw that would slowly lower skittles down to a collecting area. By turning it an exact number of times, we could accurately give a specific amount of skittles. However, we discovered later that the servo can only turn 180 degrees, so the screw was not an option and we scrapped the idea. 

Then, we made a new design where the skittles would fall down a hole. Before it fell into the collecting area, it would hit a platform, which stopped the skittles. Finally, part of the hole would rotate, carrying the skittles to a place where they could finally drop into a collecting area. By using this design, we could also control exactly how many skittles we want to drop.

Procedure: 

1. We created a shared Tinkercad file and designed on it. We made the screw design, but then realized it didn't work. Then, we designed the "moving hole" design.

2. We cut out the pieces and glued them together. Not everything was glued together, but we roughly taped everything together to see if everything would fit.

3. We made revisions to the things that didn't work. Specifically, the micro-bit cover didn't have the right measurements and the servo kept wobbling.

4. We cut out all of those fixes and then glued them together.

5. We added some things, like a ramp to help guide the skittles to the hole and a ramp at the bottom to get the skittles to go to a collecting area.

After all that, we obtained the finished product. Here is a video of it working: Skittles Dispenser.

Reflection:

SOUL reflection:

Strengths: I think our idea was very unique because we tried to make it so that you could control the exact amount of skittles.

Opportunities: There were many places where we could have done better.

1. Efficiency: We sometimes got distracted.

2. Tolerances: All of the pieces were designed to perfectly fit. This isn't practical in the real world, where we needed to glue the pieces together, introducing a lot of friction.

3. Jamming: The skittles dispenser usualy worked, but sometimes, it would get jammed because there were too many skittles in the hole. The skittles could also settle vertically, which could also jam the machine.

4. Extra added pieces: We needed to add a lot of things that weren't in the original design, such as the ramps, to make it work.

5. Reliability: The dispenser didn't always dispense the right amount of skittles. Sometimes, this was because of jamming, but other times, it was because the skittles kept not going into the hole.

Understanding: I learned how to use a laser cutter. I also learned lessons like to give your pieces tolerance.

Limitations: One of the limitations was time, as we had to rush some parts of it. Another was my group, as we only had 2 people working on it and sometimes got distracted.

WISCR:

Insightful and critical thinker: I thought of a lot of ways that we could improve on the current design, like the paper ramps on the sides.

Self-motivated: I tried to make it dispense an exact amount of skittles, even if it wasn't in the requirements.