Making a DIY Cocktail Mixer using Arduino
This is a creative Arduino project that will help you make your next cocktail party an even bigger success! DIY Cocktail Mixer using Arduino can be made in just one weekend and it’s really easy. The best part about this project is how creative you can get with it. You’ll learn all the steps to take to build your own mixer, but then feel free to incorporate any creative touches that work for you too!
The future is now. You can have your robot bartender mix drinks for you and the whole party without taking away valuable time from people who are trying to socialize! A drink-mixer will be able to serve any drinks that a human could, but they won’t get tipsy or inebriated like us humans do.
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What is a Cocktail Mixer?
A cocktail mixer is a simple Arduino project for beginners that you use to mix your ingredients. Traditionally, bartenders would shake drinks with ice or blend them in a blender but today there are several creative options for how to make mixed drinks at home! Different types of drink makers include shakers (like this one here), blenders, and even some electric spoons that now exist on the market.
DIY Cocktail Mixer Using Arduino offers an easy way to create tasty cocktails right out of your own kitchen – no bartender license required!
How does this Arduino Project Work?
The robot is really an Arduino that controls some pumps. A simple program allows the pumps to turn on for the required time and make drinks using different ingredients! The machine is set to make 5 drinks, but the programming and input switches can be changed to mix dozens of different combinations.
This creative Arduino project is a fantastic way to spend some free time on the weekend. During the week you can start thinking about how you want your DIY cocktail mixer to look and what materials will work best for it. Once that’s out of the way, all that remains is assembling your components together!
Using an electronic circuit like this one makes life easier because there are fewer steps involved in mixing drinks. All you need to do now is pour each ingredient into its corresponding container then turn on the pump at the top which releases just enough liquid from each bottle for mixing with other ingredients without wasting any precious alcohol! This simple design cuts back on clean-up too
Things Needed to make a Cocktail Mixer
- Arduino Nano RP 2040
- 12 V Pumps
- Relays
Circuit
I’ve always been interested in electronics and technology and making my own PCBs for my projects, but never really knew how to get started. Then I discovered, Altium designer! It’s an incredible tool for designers of all levels – from beginners that want something simple like a circuit diagram or PCB layout for hobby projects up to industrial-level professionals who need complex boards with thousands upon millions of combinations possible per second (that is what they’re designed for).
Here we are in Altium designer. Input voltage is connected to a 7805 regulator which converts an incoming voltage of up to 32v into 5 voltages. For powering the Arduino and operating the relays, I will be using a 9v battery.
To pump drinks. I will be connecting pumps that work on 12 v, so to power it up, a dc adapter is required.
Four GPIO pins of Arduino are connected to SSR or solid-state relays which is a type of relay that switches on and off when an external voltage is applied across its control terminals. These relays can be used in our project for controlling pumps and mixing our cocktails.
My design is just a starting point. You can redesign the entire thing, customize it and then make your own version of this project.
I decided to go with the PCB. I used Altium designer to create a neat PCB layout. With this, you can easily mount your Arduino Nano RP 2040 and SSR without using any messy wires or cables for connecting them both! It’s also lightweight so it doesn’t add too much weight to the final product.
Getting PCB done
Making a PCB for your DIY project is not hard nowadays. PCB helps to get rid of all messy wires and stuff and gives your project an awesome look. And it’s cool to make your own PCB for your project right?
I ordered PCB from PCBWay. PCBWay is a PCB manufacturer specializing in PCB prototyping, low-volume production, and neat and tidy PCB assembly.
To order your PCB from PCBWay, go to the PCBWay website and fill in the basic board details in the instant order form. From there you will be directed to a form where you can provide more elaborate board details. Update your board information in the PCB specification screen. On the next screen, you should be able to upload your Gerber file and submit it for review. Once the review is completed, all that is left is to add to the cart, make payment, and wait for your PCBs to arrive.
Once you get all the components and the PCB, it’s time for you to solder them together. Solder all the components onto the board and make sure to check the polarity of the components. After soldering the PCB looks like this.
The Software Part – Arduino IoT Cloud
Let’s get down to the software part. Here I’ll be programming the board using Arduino IoT cloud. The first thing to do is log into the Arduino IoT cloud. Under the ‘things’ you should be able to see all the projects that you have done before and there is our project the cocktail mixer. Simply click on that and under setup you should be able to see all the properties that are linked to this project – the five variables that are linked to five buttons, the microcontroller board that is linked to this project, is Arduino Nano RP 2040, and the wi-fi network.
If you are not familiar with Arduino IoT cloud make sure you watch our previous video where I explained everything in detail.
The Variables for our Arduino Project
Here, under variables, you should be able to see five different boolean variables with the name of five different cocktails and each variable will be linked to a push button in our dashboard.
Dashboard for Creating Cocktails
This is our dashboard. Here you can see five different push buttons attached to these variables. All right, now let’s start coding.
Coding Our Arduino Project
#include "thingProperties.h"
void setup() {
Serial.begin(9600);
delay(1500);
initProperties();
ArduinoCloud.begin(ArduinoIoTPreferredConnection);
setDebugMessageLevel(2);
ArduinoCloud.printDebugInfo();
pinMode(LED_BUILTIN, OUTPUT);
pinMode(2, OUTPUT);
pinMode(3, OUTPUT);
pinMode(4, OUTPUT);
pinMode(5, OUTPUT);
}
void loop() {
ArduinoCloud.update();
}
void onBloodyLogicChange() {
if (bloodyLogic == true)
{
Serial.println("Preparing Bloody Logic");
Serial.println("Preparing Digital Martini");
digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, HIGH);
pumpOn(2, 2);
pumpOn(3, 2);
pumpOn(5, 1);
Serial.println("Bloody Logic Ready!");
digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, LOW);
}
}
void onDigitalMartiniChange() {
if (digitalMartini == true)
{
Serial.println("Preparing Digital Martini");
digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, HIGH);
delay(1000);
pumpOn(3, 1);
pumpOn(4, 3);
pumpOn(2, 1);
Serial.println("Digital Martini Ready!");
digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, LOW);
}
}
void onRobot75Change() {
if (robot75 == true)
{
Serial.println("Preparing Robot 75");
digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, HIGH);
delay(1000);
pumpOn(5, 3);
pumpOn(2, 1);
pumpOn(4, 1);
Serial.println("Robot 75 Ready!");
digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, LOW);
}
}
void onRobotOnTheBeachChange() {
if (robotOnTheBeach == true)
{
Serial.println("Preparing Robot on the Beach");
digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, HIGH);
delay(1000);
pumpOn(5, 2);
pumpOn(2, 1);
pumpOn(3, 1);
pumpOn(4, 1);
Serial.println("Robot on the Beach Ready!");
digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, LOW);
}
}
void onCyberPunchChange() {
if (cyberPunch == true)
{
Serial.println("Preparing Cyber Punch");
digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, HIGH);
delay(1000);
pumpOn(2, 1);
pumpOn(4, 2);
pumpOn(3, 1);
pumpOn(2, 2);
Serial.println("Cyber Punch Ready!");
digitalWrite(LED_BUILTIN, LOW);
}
}
void pumpOn(int duration, int pin)
{
Serial.println("");
digitalWrite(pin, HIGH);
Serial.print("Turning On Pump - ");
Serial.print(pin);
Serial.print(" For ");
Serial.print(duration);
Serial.println("Seconds");
Serial.println("");
delay(duration);
digitalWrite(2, LOW);
delay(1000);
}First, we will be adding the header files that include all the functions and codes that will initiate the connection to the Arduino IoT cloud from our network.
In the setup function, we will initialize the serial communication, communication with Arduino cloud, set the pin mode, and then prepare the board to run the remaining code.
These are the 5 functions that will run when there is any change in the corresponding variables. When one of the values changes, the corresponding function will run.
For example, when the digitalmartini variable changes, the ondigitalmartinichange function will run. If the value is 1, it will turn on curtain pumps in a certain sequence, once it finishes, it exits the loop and constantly looks for any change in variable value.
And here is the function that will turn on and off the pumps.
That was really simple, right?
Now, how do we change the variable? That’s right using a dashboard!
Lets Mix Some Cocktails
The code has been uploaded successfully now I will open the dashboard in another tab okay now let’s try pushing some buttons now when I click digital martini it will run all digital martini change functions and create a cocktail for me. Now let’s connect all our pumps and test our cocktail mixer.
Once you’ve put your creative DIY cocktail mixer together, it’s time to test the whole system out. Make sure that you follow all safety precautions and make sure everyone is wearing their protective gear before testing this device!
To start up the mixer, plug in each of its components into a power supply, then flip on the switch. Now let’s tap on a cocktail in the dashboard and Voila! Here is your drink!
Conclusion
So, what creative touches will you give DIY Cocktail Mixer using Arduino? Do you like making drinks with friends or perhaps your next project will be to turn this into a useful business venture! Let us know how it goes and if you have any questions feel free to leave them in the comments below.
