INTRO

Our Barbot was born from our passion for creating gadgets with Arduino. We thought it would be fun to bring an out of the ordinary product to our YouTube Channel using the technology that Arduino offers us. Our Barbot is a connected object capable of preparing tasty drinks using a dashboard on Arduino IoT Cloud or using the MKR IoT Carrier as a remote-controlled controller to be placed on a table.

Project Perspective

The Cloud Barbot #cloudgames2022 is a sophisticated exploration of robotics technology and IoT interaction. By focusing on the essential building blocks—the MKR WiFi 1010 cellular module and your multi-pump volumetric logic—you'll learn how to communicate and synchronize your beverage preparation tasks using a specialized software logic and robust wireless setup.

Technical Implementation: Volumetric Calculation and Cloud Dashboards

The project reveals the hidden layers of simple sensing-to-pour interaction:

• Identification layer: The MKR IoT Carrier acts as your high-resolution interface, measuring every point of the user gestures to coordinate the drink-mixing tasks.
• Conversion layer: The system uses a high-speed WiFi protocol (via the WiFiNINA firmware) to receive high-speed data packets to coordinate mission-critical sensing tasks.
• Cloud Interface layer: The Arduino IoT Cloud acts as a high-definition data dashboard for checking your Barbot status (e.g., Glass Size, ml Mixing Levels).
• Processing Logic layer: The Arduino code follows a "temporal-volumetric" (or pump-dispatch) strategy: it interprets the milliliters settings and matches pump-times to provide a safe and rhythmic beverage flow (60 * ml / speed).
• Remote Control Dialogue Loop: Gesture codes are sent rhythmically to the Serial Monitor during initial calibration to coordinate status.

THE DASHBOARD

The dashboard of the barbot allows you to adjust the milliliters of liquid desired for each mixture. It is possible to select the size of the glass from a minimum of 0 to a maximum of 400 ml. Thanks to the Barbot Nano Carrier library it will be possible to take the current filling level of the glass and also show us its percentage. The green check mark indicates that the Barbot is ready to receive the start command.

REMOTE CONTROL

Using the Oplà IoT Kit we have introduced a sort of remote control to prepare the drink remotely, without the use of a mobile phone or PC.

Thanks to the gestures it is possible to change the drink to be customized by moving the hand from right to left or from left to right to browse the various levels available.

Using the touch button 1 or the touch button 4 it is possible to change the liquid level for each drink to be mixed.

The touch button 2 allows you to start mixing drinks based on the selected levels.

As also happens on the dashboard, the display and a led of the MKR IoT Carrier turn green or red according to the operations the Barbot is doing: if green is ready to accept a new job, if red is busy preparing a drink or not yet fully ready.

Hardware-Robotic Infrastructure

• Arduino MKR WiFi 1010: The "brain" of the project, managing multi-directional WiFi communication and coordinating cloud status sync.
• MKR IoT Carrier: Providing a high-precision and reliable "Visual Link" for every point of the Oplà interface.
• Diaphragm Pumps (5x): Providing high-capacity and reliable physical interface for your first successful "Drink Mission."
• Chassis Structure: Provides a clear and professional physical interface for each of your robotic missions and protects the internal components.
• MKR Relay Proto Shield: Essential for providing a clear and energy-efficient 12V control platform for every point of the pumps.
• Micro-USB Cable: Used to program your Arduino and provides the primary interface for the system controller.

THE BARBOT LIBRARY

We have created a dedicated library for our barbot in order to guarantee less implementation in terms of codes for the user. The library consists of the barbot.cpp and barbot.h files which are already included in the codes on this page.

CODE TRICKS

To return the barbot to home it is possible to use this code in the setup:

// Inizialize barbot
barbotCarrier.begin();
// Barbot tower to home
bool home = false;
barbotCarrier.mixerTowerGoTop();
while (!home) {
  home = barbotCarrier.mixerToTop();
}
barbotCarrier.mixerTowerStop();

PUMP ACTIVITY TIME: HOW DOES IT WORK?

Due to the lack of level sensors we have tried to find a way to transform the milliliters we set for each level into milliseconds of activity.

The formula we used is: 60 * milliliters / pump speed (lt/m).

To do this in the setup we must indicate how many liters the pump we use can move, in our case our diaphragm pumps have a flow rate of 2 liters every minute, so we set this parameter for all the pumps in the setup :

//Pumps setup ml/m
barbotCarrier.setPump1LitersOnMinute(2); //2lt/m
barbotCarrier.setPump2LitersOnMinute(2);
barbotCarrier.setPump3LitersOnMinute(2);
barbotCarrier.setPump4LitersOnMinute(2);
barbotCarrier.setPump5LitersOnMinute(2);

Then we set the milliliters for each drink to be mixed:

//Pumps setup
barbotCarrier.setPump1Milliliters(400); //for 400ml
barbotCarrier.setPump2Milliliters(400);
barbotCarrier.setPump3Milliliters(400);
barbotCarrier.setPump4Milliliters(400);
barbotCarrier.setPump5Milliliters(400);

We turn on the pumps with :

barbotCarrier.pumpWrite(PUMP1, HIGH);
barbotCarrier.pumpWrite(PUMP2, HIGH);
barbotCarrier.pumpWrite(PUMP3, HIGH);
barbotCarrier.pumpWrite(PUMP4, HIGH);
barbotCarrier.pumpWrite(PUMP5, HIGH);

We perform the power-up operation only once in the setup or by using a flag associated with a button.

In the loop we check the sleep timer with:

barbotCarrier.pumpTimerOff(PUMP1, 60 * (barbotCarrier.getPump1Milliliters() / barbotCarrier.getPump1LitersOnMinute()));
barbotCarrier.pumpTimerOff(PUMP2, 60 * (barbotCarrier.getPump2Milliliters() / barbotCarrier.getPump2LitersOnMinute()));
barbotCarrier.pumpTimerOff(PUMP3, 60 * (barbotCarrier.getPump3Milliliters() / barbotCarrier.getPump3LitersOnMinute()));
barbotCarrier.pumpTimerOff(PUMP4, 60 * (barbotCarrier.getPump4Milliliters() / barbotCarrier.getPump4LitersOnMinute()));
barbotCarrier.pumpTimerOff(PUMP5, 60 * (barbotCarrier.getPump5Milliliters() / barbotCarrier.getPump5LitersOnMinute()));

In our example that we have attached to this page (Barbot Firmware), a drink preparation routine has been created which starts from line 123 to line 175 and allows you to do the various operations at various instants using flags made up of boolean variables.

NOTE : This system obviously does not use level sensors and therefore could be unstable and react incorrectly with respect to the behavior we expect. We advise you to set the milliliters by under-sizing the values to have a minimum margin of error and thus prevent the spilled liquid from escaping from the container. We have set 140ml for a 200ml container!

[!IMPORTANT] To avoid overflowing the glass, always use a Pump Calibration factor (ml/min) based on your specific pump hardware; ensure you have an appropriate Fail-Safe flag in the loop!

Barbot Automation and Interaction Step-by-Step

The cloud-driven beverage process is designed to be very efficient:

1. Initialize Workspace: Correctly set your pumps and MKR carrier inside your Barbot frame and connect them properly to the Arduino pins.
2. Setup Cloud Sync: In the Arduino IoT Cloud, create the dashboards and define the drink variables (e.g., Pump1-5 ml) to coordinate the mixing flow.
3. Internal Dialogue Loop: The station constantly performs high-performance temporal checks and updates the pump status in real-time based on your drink settings.
4. Visual and Data Feedback Integration: Watch your phone dashboard automatically become a rhythmic status signal, pulsing and following your Barbot settings from a distance.

Future Expansion

• OLED Identity Dashboard Integration: Add a small OLED display on the back to show "Current IP" or "WiFi Signal Strength."
• Multi-sensor Climate Sync Synchronization: Connect a specialized "Weight Sensor (HX711)" to perform higher-precision "Auto-Glass-Detect" wirelessly via the cloud.
• Cloud Interface Registration Support Synchronization: Add a specialized web-dashboard on a smartphone over WiFi/BT to precisely track and log the total drink history.
• Advanced Velocity Profile Customization Support: Add specialized "Auto-Clean vCore" to the code to allow triggers to be changed automatically based on the user distance!

The Cloud Barbot is a perfect project for any science enthusiast looking for a more interactive and engaging robotics tool!

DEMO

Here a video demo:

Italian video (English subtitles available) :