BS1-Controlled Hot Wheels Margarita Dispenser
Youtube Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HTuYd1jhP5Y
A fun project I made for my Christmas party, combining the latest Hot Wheels Trick Track toy with a motorized margarita pump.·This is·a Rube Goldberg-style chain reaction set where Hot Wheels cars do·one·stunt in a sequence then trigger the next one. To this stock toy, I added·three microswitches at trigger points so a Basic Stamp Project board could monitor the sequence and timing intervals. I do·a different activity-based dispenser every year for my party, and people love to figure out how to cheat and get a margarita without doing the activity. ·But THIS year, my watchdog·Stamp program·meaures the triggering intervals very accurately so that there is·no chance of anyone manually activating the three triggers by hand. They have to do the full setup and the cars & track do the work.
In theory, anyone too drunk to set up the toy properly won't get a drink, so it's a socially responsible thing to do! In reality, the kids at the party just like setting it up and then finding someone to drink the incidental margarita! Oh well...
PS: If you ever make something like this, be sure to have a cup·interlock switch that won't pump anything if there's no cup present. The voice of experience!
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·"If you build it, they will come."
A fun project I made for my Christmas party, combining the latest Hot Wheels Trick Track toy with a motorized margarita pump.·This is·a Rube Goldberg-style chain reaction set where Hot Wheels cars do·one·stunt in a sequence then trigger the next one. To this stock toy, I added·three microswitches at trigger points so a Basic Stamp Project board could monitor the sequence and timing intervals. I do·a different activity-based dispenser every year for my party, and people love to figure out how to cheat and get a margarita without doing the activity. ·But THIS year, my watchdog·Stamp program·meaures the triggering intervals very accurately so that there is·no chance of anyone manually activating the three triggers by hand. They have to do the full setup and the cars & track do the work.
In theory, anyone too drunk to set up the toy properly won't get a drink, so it's a socially responsible thing to do! In reality, the kids at the party just like setting it up and then finding someone to drink the incidental margarita! Oh well...
PS: If you ever make something like this, be sure to have a cup·interlock switch that won't pump anything if there's no cup present. The voice of experience!
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·"If you build it, they will come."
Comments
Fantastic Video!
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Whit+
"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths." - Walt Disney
Post Edited (Whit) : 12/22/2008 2:55:35 AM GMT
purpose for Hot Wheels! This approach of Hot Wheels is a spin off of the
original "Mouse Trap" game some decades ago. I'm interested in seeing
a very simple example of your watchdog code, if possible. You probaby
have a switch per port and flag the input as off or on to trigger a
time loop? Great project, great job! And does it fill up with Diet Cola?
Someone needs to fill the designated driver position during New Years.
humanoido
Twenty years ago, I had my Heathkit HERO 2000 bartending at my Christmas party. Spent a LOT of time programming this one, it was pretty trick. It would ask you which of 3 different drinks you wanted and wait for your signal (break the sonar beam). First it would grab a cup off of a calibrated stack (knew how many cups remained, & how high the stack would be), pick up two of 6 different bottles (mixers & liquor), and pour into the cup. The BEST part: it would finish by grabbing an ice cube out of an ice tray and put it in the drink. I made a jig that would freeze a vertical swizzle stick into each ice cube in the tray. It knew which ice cubes remained, and would grab the next ice cube by the swizzle stick and plop it into the drink.
I have this amazing (but painfully slow) process on VHS video. I'll have to drag out a VHS deck, digitize it and Youtube that as well someday.
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·"If you build it, they will come."
Al
I simply used a generic 12-volt automotive windshield washer pump from Pep Boys, pumping margarita mix through Tygon tubing. Obviously it's not FDA-approved (!) but I only use it one evening a year, and the alcohol in the tequila probably helps kill off germs! I haven't had any complaints. The sweet & sour drink mix is pretty sticky, so I flush everything out with fresh water before I store it.
erco
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·"If you build it, they will come."