How long before we have a countertop appliance

submitted over 11 years ago by Vieto

That allows you to download and store recipes, has flavoring tanks, and whips you up ejuice at the touch of a button?

Maybe with an autosteep feature as well :p

Comments

4 points

by 3tern1tyover 11 years agoMixologist

I got a spare arduino. Shouldn't be too hard to throw that together. lol

3 points

by Vietoover 11 years ago

I mean, it would only make you the god of this subreddit.

3 points

by Fordimanover 11 years ago

You'll need a few peristaltic pumps, probably an arduino or a Raspberry Pi, and a bit of tubing and wiring.

You'd probably need to calibrate the pumps for each fluid to ensure after your software has converted percentages to volumes, you've got the right run times for those volumes.

I'd say, at least 15 pumps (1 100mg nic, 1 pure PG, 1 pure VG, 12 flavors). The rest is, as a particular programmer I know would say, is a simple matter of wiring, plumbing, and programming.

3 points

by vind2birdmanover 11 years ago

I am working on making that right now for a school project.

2 points

by BongleBearover 11 years ago

I remember years ago when I worked in a DIY store, we had one of those computer controlled paint mixing machines. Just type in the color name, put a blank can of paint underneath, and the machine did the rest. This certainly sounds doable for juicy recipes.

2 points

by getyaover 11 years ago

One of the machines I used as a pad printer is an automatic ink mixer. It would store custom formulas and mix them or any pantone color matches from restockable cans of ink.

It used peristaltic pumps and cost the shop $23,000 according to my boss at the time.

1 points

by Fordimanover 11 years ago

I guarantee you a significant portion - probably a majority - of that capital cost is Pantone licensing. Those people have been riding high on that horse for ages.

1 points

by getyaover 11 years ago

Peristaltic pumps aren't exactly cheap either. I'm sure at least half of the cost is licensing and profit.

1 points

by Fordimanover 11 years ago

Why would they be that expensive? Stepper motor, a couple of wheels, and some tubing. You can even skip the stepper motor if you've got a stable voltage source.

1 points

by drd525over 11 years ago

you could buy a used automated pipetting/microplate system and use it with few modifications to make juice, but that would cost maybe $2000.

1 points

by joekerr37over 11 years ago

this is where big tobacco could gain a substantial foothold in the market... through manufacturing processes. It would be dirt simple to mass produce ejuice, but would require a lot of upfront investment (especially for a small shop) for the machinery to automate the process.

1 points

by theBigDaddioover 11 years agoMixologist

This would cost tens of thousands of dollars, especially when you try to make very small final products, like less than 30ml. Hell I think 30ml is pretty small. I worked long ago on one of those automated bar systems. You had bottles of liquor all hooked to this device, could punch in a drink say Margarita and it would pour out of the spout. It cost way over $50k per.

They have an automated bar now, $2700 for 8 containers. Drink mixing is not as precise as eLiquid mixing.