Hello - is this the right forum for me?

Simzter · January 30, 2019, 4:48pm

Greetings,

I hate first posts, usually end up in the wrong place and often on the wrong site.

I work for a business that deals with Medicine dispensing Robots, and am in charge of a project - and need to build something.

The project is simple enough - but I simply do not have sufficient knowledge.

A simple way of describing what I need is:

A low voltage/speed motor that turns left for 3 seconds. If during this 3 seconds a sensor isn’t triggered, the motor will switch direction. If the sensor isn’t triggered after 3 seconds, everything will end. If the sensor IS triggered during any of the above - it will continue for in the same direction for another 3 seconds.

I have some programming experience - and anticipate Arduino being used as a logic controller, but as for the hardware - I’m not sure.

If this is the right forum for this kind of stuff - I can post a more detailed write up and better explain the purpose if people on here can help

lyndon · January 31, 2019, 12:11pm

An Arduino can certainly do this. The additional hardware needed will depend on the type of sensor and motor you are using. You can continue to post here for help to continue a DIY project. If you need more specialized consultation, PM me. I offer construction services for small projects and I’ve shipped hardware all over the world.

Simzter · January 31, 2019, 3:53pm

Lyndon - Thank you for taking the time to respond and your offer of help. I have some time to dedicate to this tomorrow - I’ll write a detailed post and add some images that will make things a little clearer.

Simzter · February 1, 2019, 11:22am

The products we work with are medicine dispensing machines.

There is a canister filled with tablets, that sits on top of a base that has a motor.

https://ibb.co/QrZSnYm

The canister has a rotor with chambers/holes that are matched to the size of the tablet it is designed to dispense.

https://ibb.co/kGsHwJy

The base drives the rotor inside the canister - that then drops a single tablet.

This is detected by a sensor, to indicate a single drop.

https://ibb.co/QJRj8yw

What I want to achieve

Matching the rotor for the canister to a single tablet that works is sometimes tricky, and hard to validate results.

Currently we test by hand - turning the rotor with our fingers, and almost force the results we want by shaking the canister or applying more pressure.

I want to create a replica of the base that it sits on inside the machine, and simulate dispensing to give a consistent check.

As you can see from the pictures - I have an actual base from one of the machines, but the internals are over complicated for what I need it to do. (When inside the machine it needs an ID/location check etc). None of this is relevant for the simple task I need.

The motor is 220v AC - and around 29~35 RPM. To keep this a simple project, I’d prefer a low voltage motor (maybe 12/24v) but this isn’t my area of expertise. Maybe there’s a sound reason the higher voltage motor is there. The base can have more depth to allow different motor sizes - I can retrofit if necessary - so long as the top half of the base remains the same.

The sensor and its housing - I’d like to re-use as it fits neatly into the base I already have and is the equipment we already use. Again, not my area of expertise - here is a close up image.

https://ibb.co/0ryBMs6

https://ibb.co/8gnfHBZ

I hope the above gives a clearer picture of what I’m trying to create. I’d welcome any views and suggestions on what I have vs what I need. All comments are appreciated - and happy to respond to requests for more information if needed.

Simzter · February 1, 2019, 11:29am

Images don’t appear - I’m not sure if they need to be verified. Here are the links - I have commented on them