I am currently in the process of making a robot that can make a cup of tea, when It receives the command to do so. The general idea is as follows:
- checks if saucepan is placed
- checks if milk is available
- checks if tea leaves are available
- Hot plate is turned on using a relay
- Pours milk from the refrigerated container using a pump
- Drops tea leaves and sugar into saucepan
- Waits a set amount of time during which tea is mixed(not sure how)
- Chai is pumped from saucepan into cup, or is left in saucepan.
- Hot plate relay is turned off and user is notified through blynk or IFTT
I have figured out how to go about most of the steps, but I cant seem to find a reliable way to add the desired amounts of sugar and tea. I have thought of a few ways:
Using a screw conveyer powered by a simple servo moter. I found this CAD model which i could replicate The Thingiverse link
Using plastic bottles filled with sugar or tea leaves. The opening of the bottle could be opened or closed with a servo moter, allowing the sugar or tea leaves to drop into the saucepan. This video shows what i mean, The video
With both possibilities the issue is how I would control the amount of ingredients. I want to choose the amount in tea spoons to add. How would I be able to add the exact desired amount? With the milk i thought i would first calculate the rate in L/M of my pump then turn on the pump for exactly the required amount of time in code. Please let me know if you think is a good way to go about it and if you have any idea how i could control amount of substance added and how.