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Linux-Based Bar-Monkey
An anonymous reader writes "The Bar-Monkey is a bar built around a 486 running linux that can dispense an 8 ounce mixed drink in under 10 seconds. It uses a Matrix Orbital Serial LCD panel with a keypad built into the bar surface for user input. Three Harvey Mudd College students built the bar in their spare time last semester. The bar holds 16 ingredients with which it can currently mix 188 drinks stored in its drink database. Total project cost: $235."
Bahaha that was a great scene.
For those of you who missed the reference, it's from the highly underrated Fifth Element. This guy is pouring out his heart to a bartender, and asks if he knows what he means.
Camera angle cuts over and the bartender's a robot. It shakes it's head no and askes "You want some more?", which is funny since that's pretty much the reaction I've gotten from human bartenders the two or three times I've gone to drown serious sorrows.
The Bar Monkey
Designed and Implemented by Steven Avery, Dustin Cooper, and Brad Greer
of Harvey Mudd College
The Bar Monkey, simply put, is a vending machine that serves mixed drinks. It houses 16 reservoirs which currently contain the following ingredients:
* Vodka
* Rum
* Tequila
* Whiskey
* Gin
* Amaretto
* Triple Sec
* Kahlua (or coffee liqueur)
* Midori (or melon liqueur)
* Orange Juice
* Pineapple Juice
* Cranberry Juice
* Sour Mix
* Cola*
* Tonic*
* Grenadine*
*Ingredients currently under consideration for replacement
Using these 16 ingredients, a total of 188 different drinks can be made, with the included ability to add ounce increments of each ingredient to customize (or create) a drink. The drink database is easy to update and nearly infinitely expandable.
Customers sign up for a user account, for which they are assigned a unique, 5-digit, hexadecimal PIN. The account is debit-based, with each drink charging the customer at cost for the drink they are purchasing, automatically deducting from their account balance.
All told, the project took about 3 months and $235 to complete. It is worth mentioning, however, that the LCD (the most expensive single component) was donated (approx. value: $100+), and various other components were otherwise acquired for free. The Bar Monkey was graciously funded by West Dorm HMC, even though we were overbudget by $85. Continual maintenance and occasional improvements are still always a concern.
Some Pictures:
Beta Testing
Here's the cabinet when it was just a few shelves holding empty 2-liter bottles. One pump is hooked up to the computer for the purpose of taking time-constant data.
Soldering I
Having collected the time-constant data, Steve and Brad dutifully solder half-inch jumpers to each of the 4 leads on each of the 16 relays. Neither of us knows, to this day, why we did this outside.
Soldering II
Closeup of the meticulous but tedious jumper-soldering process.
Bartop Under Construction
The unfinished bartop, with various tools, containers, and other helpful things strewn across it in the midst of hard work.
The Monkey's Central Nervous System
The finished relay board, connected to the computer via parallel ports. The computer is running the Bar Monkey program, which displays the drink code prompt on the LCD.
LCD and Keypad Closeup
The above-mentioned drink prompt, but closer.
Behind the Scenes of the Relay Board
It looks really nice and neat on top, but the relay board was quite possibly the most difficult part of the entire project. What you see here are 16 relays, 16 diodes, 16 resistors, 16 transistors, and approximately 70 small segments of wire (not counting the 64 jumpers).
Inside the Finished Product I (shown above)
Pretty self-explanatory. The pumps and their respective reservoirs in place, the computer and relay board safely tucked on a shelf, the LCD behind a half-inch of acrylic, and all the tubes pulled through the PVC dispenser neck.
Inside the Finished Product II
Same as above, but from a different angle.
Electronics Closeup
The LCD, with extension cable to the keypad and serial cable to the computer, is at the top right. The bottom of the computer is unimpressive, though dominant in the frame, and the relay board is seen off to the side.
Outside the Finished Product
Here we see the Bar Monkey as customers see it, complete with Dustin's excellent stencil design and the nozzle, which is removable for cleaning.
The Finished Bartop
The top of the Bar Monkey, covered in rugged black plastic with a viewing window for the LCD.
Finished LCD and Keypad Closeup
It still looks pretty much the way it did when it was unfinished, only now it isn't just laying on the floor.
Drink Confirmation
The true beginning of the customer's experience with the Bar Monkey.
Technical Specs:
* Runs a program written in C by Dustin Cooper, in Linux.
* Bartop is approximately four feet above the ground.
* Holds approximately 1.75 liters of each ingredient.
* Uses 16 windshield washer pumps run by a 12V adaptor. Pumps are connected in parallel and run sequentially by the program.
* Dispenses an 8 oz. mixed drink in less than 10 seconds.
* Currently has 30 registered user accounts, with expected rapid growth as people cease being broke.
CounterCentral hit counters
Since 10:00 PM EST on Jan 7, 2003
Yeah, peri pumps are great. We have hundreds of impeller pumps to recirculate ink on our presses, and the are always dying, going off balance, or developing other problems. Plus, they have to be meticulously cleaned with every ink color change. We're moving to peri pumps exclusively in the next few months...just rinse out or throw away the tube, snap in, and go.
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Comment removed based on user account deletion
I've always wanted to do little projects like this, where a computer controls various relays. The only thing I don't know how to do is get the computer to control them! Are there inexpensive kits that connect to, say, a serial port? I'd love it if anyone who has experience with similar things can tell me how to do this cheaply.
l /-/1878 707159/103-7968018-2248661?vi=glance
There's a book called Controlling the world through your PC, or something like that. It's old and comes with a floppy disk, but i recall it having schematics for hooking things up to the paralle port. You can wire it directly but you generally want opto-isolators so you can't fry your computer. You can also get a wide array of stuff to interface to the serial port. I like the motoralla 68hc11 microcontroller. It does cool shit (we actually used one in a previous barmonkey prototype), and the evaluation board with chip runs around $100. Try http://www.axman.com/
Also, the amazon page for the above book:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai
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