Cup Present Sensor
Objective (Work Project): Create time-of-flight sensor mount that connects to Arduino Nano board to sense the presence of a coffee cup. Sensing the existence of a cup is crucial to overall machine control because coffee cannot be dispensed without knowing a cup is in the correct position under the faucet.
Original design: VHB adhesive (red part in model) bonded sheet metal skirt to front of 3DP part (blue part in model) that housed Arduino board. Time-of-flight sensor was fastened into a tapped acrylic, laser cut piece.
Updated design: Utilizes less fasteners and accomodates larger Arduino board, which was necessary to gather reliable reading
Result: The electronics worked correctly and consistently sensed when a cup was or was not present at the faucet. Also, the acrylic parts were not clearly visible or protruding from the faucet skirt giving it a nice aesthetic look.
Two cup present sensors mounted to inside of faucet skirt
Front view of faucet skirt showing only a small split line between black, sheet metal part and laser cut acrylic piece