Oct 26, 2019: I've realeased the CAD files for this project. I'm no longer making kits and to keep this interest in this project I want everyone to have the ability to make it. This is a great STEAM project to get started in mechatronics and engineering. Happy making!
-Ryan
My very first proof-of-concept for the claw machine ran on servos. The current claw machine uses stepper motors and for the longest time I wanted to use these leftover servo motors in a project. A vending machine seemed like a good idea to match the mini arcades...
Honestly I was just messing around with this project and later carried away with the idea.
I read on the Arduino.cc site how adding the "duino" suffex to things translates poorly in Italian.. but VenDuino just sounded good. Sorry in advance.
If you wish to copy the build shown in my video, you will need some things aside from a microcontroller. Here's a list of eveything else you may need.
Assembly | Item | Quantity | Description |
Body | 1 | 1 | Laser cut wood Body |
Electronics | 2 | 4 | Parallax Servo Motor, Continuous Rotation |
3 | 1 | LED 5mm | |
4 | 1 | DC-DC Stepdown Converter | |
5 | 4 |
16mm Momentary push button OR 1 rotary encoder |
|
6 | 1 | Nokia 5110 LCD | |
7 | 1 | 74HC4050N Logic Level converter | |
8 | 1 | BreadBoard | |
9 | 1 | 12V 2A DC Power Supply (5.1 x2.2 mm barrel) | |
10 | 1 | 5.1 x2.2 mm DC panel mount jack | |
11 | 3 | misc wire, 1ft 22-24 AWG | |
12 | 1 | 12mm Power switch | |
13 | 1 | F/F Dupont Jumper Wires, 30cm, 0.10" pitch | |
14 | 1 | Male extra Long PCB headers, 0.10" pitch | |
15 | 1 | 12V LED strip, 30cm | |
Version 2 CAD file. Use inkscape to convert to .eps or .PDF.
VenDuino v1
The older venduino is below if you want to reference that design and use that code for 4 buttons in place of the encoder.
Version 1 code is below. Note: Please dont email me about "I cant get ____ to work". It works, trust me.
Version 1 CAD file is below. Use inkscape to convert to .eps or .PDF.
Connection Summary aka "What goes where". This can be changed in the code; however servo connections usually require PWM dedicated pins.
I recently made this PCB to simplify all the electronics. It is basically an Arduino-complatible Uno clone board (ATMEGA 328P) with robust I/O connections and integrated LCD. Totally optional, but related.