Arduino- Candy Dispenser

thingiverse

I present to you my life's work! Lol.. This thing is awesome.. If you have the time, willpower, and looking for a fun Arduino project. Make this candy dispenser and send me a video of it working. I got it working but it always had little hiccups and just didn't have the time to give it the "pazaz". The issue I had most problems with was the Spoon and big spring. It was simply hard to load up enough pressure. Everything printed and fit really well.. The funnel I printed on the spiralize outer contour feature in Cura. You'll have to do the same because it can only have one layer to slide over the "tall slide". It's surprisingly sturdy regardless and keeps it light weight. I also printed the spoon and the stepper motor cover it tpu. The stepper motor cover really just because I wanted to use the bright red I had but it made it turn out pretty cool because it "squeezed" the motor a bit but the spoon because I wanted a bit of flex. The spring def needs to be in PETG because it's holding all the energy of the big servo. (I never got it quite right and the servo honestly can turn fast enough you may not even need the actuator and spring. It prob would turn fast enough to throw the m&ms by itself. (Though the extra pieces really add to the effect.. Other than that it was all in PLA. The "W" shaped piece that holds the wheel was a bit tricky to print. I was new to printing so struggled a bit with it and was likely printing it waay too fast. If you have issues turn the speed waay down and give it another go. Other than the printed parts You'll of course need an Arduino Uno to program it all. A larger RC style servo motor to load pressure on the spring/spoon . A smaller hobby servo to pull the actuator bar releasing the spoon. An electronics small stepper motor with the driver to turn the wheel (same one every Arduino kits come with). A small lever style switch goes under the wheel where a tab on the wheel tags it to tell the stepper what position it's in between power cycles. (There are different types of these) Get the one with two holes in it and all three tabs come out the bottom). A big red Button to tell it to fire. Finally 2 pieces of 3mm hobby/electronics rod (think I might have used two smaller 2mm pieces to hold the small servo down because I already had some but you shouldn't need it. Finally a small hardware set of screws, nuts, and washers (should already have this if you're serious about making this). Lol.. I've included pictures of all the hardware I specifically used which is all very common except the push button I used.. You can find them just may not be the first thing that pops up. Try "Big Red Button" and scroll down the list on amazon. (Mine came in a 2 pack, one red and one green. But really any button will work. It's just appropriate to use a BIG one.. If you have any questions I don't often check my messages here but if you really need to, text me @ (301) 800-5385. Thanks!! *Many of these parts are heavily remixed from other tinkerer's. Without them this wouldn't have happened. Much Love to my contributors!!