Design and assembly of an automated juice mixing machine

The refreshments industry is currently at a stalemate where most consumers are oriented towards typical, rigid and low-quality juice products. Most if not all vending machines are of low quality, as most of them offer products that include high amounts of preservative substances due to the machine’s inability to maintain fresh products. Moreover, most if not all of the vending machines available in today’s market suffer from poorly maintained exterior frames and internal components, in addition to limited funct-ionalities. The design of an automated juice mixing machine that provides the user with a convenient access to healthy alternatives is proposed. The machine can be used at homes and restaurants. A detailed description of the mechanical assembly as well as testing and verification of the correct functionality of the components used are provided. The proposed juice mixing machine has four aluminum containers holding four different types of juices, each having a capacity of 1500 ml. The fifth container holds the water that is used to clean the blender after each cycle. After depositing the payment (in case of using the machine at restaurants), the user can select the desired juice mix using a thin-film transistor (TFT) touchscreen. The TFT screen displays four selections to be chosen by the user. Furthermore, the user can specify the percentage for each type of juice in the mix. After specifying the percentage of each type of juice, the user is then instructed to choose one of the available two cup sizes. The microcontroller completes the required computations of different juice percentages based on the user’s choice and cup size. Tubing connections and pumps transfer the require amount of different juices from the containers into the blender, which will perform flavor fusion. All electrical and mechanical components were tested separately to verify correct functionality before final assembly. The microcontroller used is the Arduino Mega which has sufficient number of input and output pins. The controller orchestrates the operation of all components used. Experimental results after final assembly of the machine confirm its correct functionality.