Tea Maker
Project Summary
We decided to build a robot that simplifies the tea brewing process. It does everything short of boiling the water.
Project Description
The Tea Maker uses just one NXT motor, one NXT touch sensor, and one Vernier Stainless Steel Temperature Probe.
First, the tea bag is inserted into the same gear mechanism that will later raise and lower it. Once the program is started, the cup of hot water is placed below the tea bag and the temperature probe. When the cup is pressed against the touch sensor, the action starts.
The tea bag is lowered into the tea, and moved up and down. The brewing time is set in the program. We set it for 3 minutes. At this point the tea is still too hot to drink. We lifted out the tea bag and lowered in the temperature probe.
The probe monitors the temperature until it reaches the perfect drinking temperature. We used 64°C. The NXT then alerts you that your tea is ready to drink. The Tea Maker resets into the same position it started in, allowing cup after cup to be made.
In case the program ever gets stopped halfway through, there is a manual rewind wheel.
Demo Movie
Project Downloads
- Download the Tea Maker MINDSTORMS NXT Program »
- Download the Tea Maker LabVIEW virtual instrument »
- Download the Tea Maker building instructions (HTML format) »
- Download the Tea Maker building instructions (LEGO digital designer format) »
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Project Equipment
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