Venderoo is an Arduino Mega-powered DIY merchandising machine

For now-college pupil Joel Grayson, making one thing that mixed his pursuits in mechanics, electronics, and programming whereas being concurrently helpful to these round him was a longtime objective. His current Venderoo challenge is precisely that, because the creatively named merchandising machine was designed and constructed from the bottom as much as dispense snacks in his former highschool to fellow classmates.

Developing Venderoo began with a sketch that featured the scale, merchandising mechanism, and the electronics panel on the left. Then by means of a mix of a CNC router and a jigsaw, Grayson meticulously lower out every plywood panel and assembled them collectively together with clear acrylic sheets so college students might observe the machine in-action. On the electronics aspect, an Arduino Mega 2560 is accountable for dealing with picks on the keypad, displaying instructions/suggestions to customers by way of the character LCD, accepting cash, and rotating the motors when it’s time to dispense.

When a pupil first approaches Venderoo, they’re greeted by a message instructing them to pick out their snack of selection, after which the worth will seem and ask for a mix of $1 or $5 payments, relying on the worth. As soon as the steadiness has met the brink, Venderoo will discover the situation of the snack and spin the suitable motor because of highly effective MOSFET drivers.

To see extra about how Grayson’s Venderoo merchandising machine works, watch the video under!