I am developing a gas & 12V operated espresso machine with a lot of sense of humour. See how it progresses here: http://leva.no/English/Bits/Gaspresso/Gaspresso.html ***outdated web, new one <<any time soon>> ***
Too fantastic for words! As my friend says, "if it's worth doing, it's worth over doing." Looks like a great project and blog. Your spirit of fun-loving adventure comes through loud & clear. Welcome to the forums and keep up the good work.
-sorry, I've been ill lately and I've given SPIN priority - so I have not updated my web on this. I am getting eager to do so soon. (don't worry, my Gaspresso child born in August is growing up nicely.)
I thought I'd just give a short update on my Gaspresso project:
It is a 12V, gas heated espresso-maker, originally intended to brew me good coffee even in a setting without power mains, eg. in my mountain cabin or on board my sailboat. This idea quickly developed into a project to make a 'bot with a personality, much like the bots of Douglas Adams' stories. So, it will talk - talk nonsense, insults, bragging, sulking, etc. The making-coffee-process gives lots of opportunities for such comments.
The way I have structured this, is that I am integrating the personality part into the conventional process control logic, by having the machine say wav recordings selected from a large range of 'messages' spoken in a large range of 'moods' (approx 30 x 30). The 'mood' - which governs how the message is phrased (and intoned) is picked at random. (probably during power-up or start coffee-making, and then later triggered by certain event, eg. to slow user response and it goes from moodCherful to moodSulky).
I got a second hand espresso machine and ripped it apart. Then I rewound the coil of the impulse pump to run on 12V instead of 220V. For the gas fired water heating coil I built a double-walled flue into the machine, and under this I installed a camping gas burner. I am using a servo to open up the gas valve, and a (car) coil and ignition plug to ignite it, then a IR sensor to monitor it. The machine will be able to produce a range of drinks - from tea water via 'Texas coffee', ordinary espresso, through to Irish coffee, and finally pure Irish whiskey. Obviously I have added a second tank and pump for the whisky. I have put sensors and switches on 'everything'. The more weird IO includes a DO NOT PRESS THIS BUTTON large red button, a someone-knocks piezo sensor, and a vibrate device pilfered from a mobile phone.
The way I go about coding, is to write pseudo code as I get ideas to how it should operate, interact with the user, express itself, etc. The reason why I use pseudo code is that I like this top-down approach, and besides I am new to SPIN and so have to learn it. In parallel with this I am sifting the OBEX for drivers and test out the various sensors and devices, and then tweak them to fit my needs. Right now I have started coding the PUB Main for real - and it is getting really fun. This weekend I am going to my cabin, and I am bringing recording equipment in order to speak and record all the ~900 phases (!).
The overall status of the project is that I am now finishing the building and testing of HW and SW building blocks, and have just started the integration work, testing progressively as it goes together.
Hopefully I will make time to update my web to show all details and pictures.
Comments
erco
E
It is a 12V, gas heated espresso-maker, originally intended to brew me good coffee even in a setting without power mains, eg. in my mountain cabin or on board my sailboat. This idea quickly developed into a project to make a 'bot with a personality, much like the bots of Douglas Adams' stories. So, it will talk - talk nonsense, insults, bragging, sulking, etc. The making-coffee-process gives lots of opportunities for such comments.
The way I have structured this, is that I am integrating the personality part into the conventional process control logic, by having the machine say wav recordings selected from a large range of 'messages' spoken in a large range of 'moods' (approx 30 x 30). The 'mood' - which governs how the message is phrased (and intoned) is picked at random. (probably during power-up or start coffee-making, and then later triggered by certain event, eg. to slow user response and it goes from moodCherful to moodSulky).
I got a second hand espresso machine and ripped it apart. Then I rewound the coil of the impulse pump to run on 12V instead of 220V. For the gas fired water heating coil I built a double-walled flue into the machine, and under this I installed a camping gas burner. I am using a servo to open up the gas valve, and a (car) coil and ignition plug to ignite it, then a IR sensor to monitor it. The machine will be able to produce a range of drinks - from tea water via 'Texas coffee', ordinary espresso, through to Irish coffee, and finally pure Irish whiskey. Obviously I have added a second tank and pump for the whisky. I have put sensors and switches on 'everything'. The more weird IO includes a DO NOT PRESS THIS BUTTON large red button, a someone-knocks piezo sensor, and a vibrate device pilfered from a mobile phone.
The way I go about coding, is to write pseudo code as I get ideas to how it should operate, interact with the user, express itself, etc. The reason why I use pseudo code is that I like this top-down approach, and besides I am new to SPIN and so have to learn it. In parallel with this I am sifting the OBEX for drivers and test out the various sensors and devices, and then tweak them to fit my needs. Right now I have started coding the PUB Main for real - and it is getting really fun. This weekend I am going to my cabin, and I am bringing recording equipment in order to speak and record all the ~900 phases (!).
The overall status of the project is that I am now finishing the building and testing of HW and SW building blocks, and have just started the integration work, testing progressively as it goes together.
Hopefully I will make time to update my web to show all details and pictures.
Erlend
You will be required to make a video when the project is complete, of course!
constant name
moodPissed
moodAngry
moodHappy
moodUnhappy
moodFriendly
moodStressed
moodPuzzled
moodFormal
moodWiseguy
moodPolitical
moodMacho
moodLonging
moodAlternative
moodAdolescent
moodSlow
moodSleepy
moodServing
moodIndifferent
moodSharp
moodIronical
moodSayings
moodLatinuser
moodPoetic
moodRhyme
moodChuckle
moodAdvertising
moodSulking
http://leva.no/English/Bits/Gaspresso/Gaspressomechanical.htm
Erlend