snow cone robot

[roboplane2.0]

  I've decided that I'm going to make a snow cone robot for science fair next year and i need some help. My first question is what kind of motor would i use to carry ~30-40 lb. (mini ice shredder, syrup despenser, and mini freezer included) and also what kind of energy source should I use because I'll be using alot of energy. And what kind of microcontroller(or if i should even have one) to remote control 4 wheels, around 4 different syrup nozzles,mini ice shredder, mini freezer for ice maker, and convierer belt. And where can i find a remote controller with 4 analog sticks and atleast 8 buttons or how could I make it?

[Hal9000]

I think generally, anything like this has A LOT of hidden problems you haven't thought of yet.

Like, try and keep things simple.

An ice shredder.........don't know if you've used a hand-powered one before.............uses loads of force. The power you would need would either be mains voltage (very dangerous!) or car batteries I would imagine (also very dangerous!), so basically, don't do these things unless you really know what you are doing.

I mean, I guess even as a 3rd year Masters Engineering Student, I would even have a big problem making a remote controlled car..........

Start off small...........copy something someone else has done............these are good ways to guarantee success.

[roboplane2.0]

yah but its still a great idea  maybe someday I'll create a solar one or something like that

2015 News:
New solar or some other fuel source snow cone making RC robot invented more on this at 11

maybe i could make a very light ice shredder and use something like those things and fastfood places that you press and the drink comes out i could probable program them to spray with diffrent marked buttons on the remote control and a conveirer belt wont be hardand maybe make it so I can just push the thing that holds everything by hand like a cart, i could probably fuse the freezer with an electronic ice shredder
and I'm hoping one day they'll use it in candy and sweet shops or cafes around the world.

[nanob0t]

Very interesting idea.  I'll throw in my input. 

Start off small...........copy something someone else has done............these are good ways to guarantee success.

Agreed.  You probably will not have to deal with 4 individual drive motors, it's a bit much work.  I would recommend treads as they are able to dispurse weight along a wider surface area and therefore would be more stable and probably be able to carry more weight.

The motors you would have to use are probably a large DC motor.  You would need a microcontroller to program this with several PWM (Pulse Width Modulators)  in order to controll the speed, etc. of the motors.  This way you can have enough torque to carry the load on the robot. 

The first thing you want to do is make calculations and do a bit more research into the robot.  You have a very handy drawing, but it would make things a lot easier if you broke each thing down and did parts research.  For example, how much does the freezer/ice grinder/etc weigh and the size dimensions?   This way you can take the robot out of theory and into reality.   If you calculate weight and dimensions, you can pick out a motor, then electronics, etc.   I'm sure if you got those things down and presented them, everyone could help much more.

[roboplane2.0]

yah thats a great point i'll try that

[Hal9000]

Mr Frosty is such fun, he makes treats for everyone!

Maybe you could go hack one of those.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Hasbro-5023117028052-Mr-Frosty/dp/B00005NK20

[Admin]

every feature you add is a point of tons of work and tons of failure.

if you can reduce to number of parts, or combine functions of different parts, you can save yourself tons of time and money.

what if it just had one big vat like container that did everything in one spot? a hacked blender to slice the ice, a servo to squeeze some flavor juice in, and a bilge pump to squirt out the finished product?

make simplicity your #1 design goal and your life will be infinitely easier

and dont forget about cleaning issues . . . sugar water and melting ice will rust/nasty up your robot in no time

[Brandon121233]

I think if you were really serious about this it would be better to do 1 of the following things:

1. If you really want it to be mobile to go around and dispense snow cones you might want to keep it simple and keep the snow shaving part of it separate and have it refill when its empty. You could have it so it dumps pre-shaved ice into like a cooler then it would just release a specified amount into a cup/container then use like a small solenoid valve http://www.wetearth.com.au/product/ProductList.asp?lngSubCatID=122 to release flavors into it.

2. Keep it stationary so you can use 120 VAC from an outlet (more dangerous), and have it like one of these http://www.miko.co.uk/tabletop_coffee_vending_machine.asp except that it could shave the ice instead of grind coffee, and it would add flavors to it.

Trying to combine everything into one unit and have enough power to run it would be quite an engineering feat and probably drain you wallet pretty fast if you know what I mean. But I one day you figure out a way to do it, congrats.

[Hal9000]

If this is a project..........a fun one at that..........mr frosty is the way to go

Hack it into pieces, LEDs in the eyes...................squash the penguin sauce dispenser thing with some sort of squasher and .......... quite possibly, you've created a monster

[sotu]

A snow cone robot won't be used very much tho:P

[Hal9000]

Unless you like snow cones

[sotu]

Yeah..! do u like'em?

[Hal9000]

I never really have them, as such. England is too cold.

[sotu]

oh, ok! Is there many hobby stores in England selling stuff for robots?

[Hal9000]

Not really...........americans get everything!