instructables

DIY Vending Machine

by ardutronic123

Three years ago, I started studying in an electronic
technical college. One of the facts that surprised me
at that time was the number of smokers because
during breaks, ha lf o f t he s t ude nt s left the walls
of the school to unload their emotions after a forty-
ve-minute lesson. If I was a passer-by not knowing
the area walking near the school during the break, I
w o uld ca ll t he re brig a de . A signi cant part of
smokers buy cigarettes for pieces - t his is ho w t he
ide a o f m a king a cig a re t t e m a chine w a s
bo rn .

https://bit.ly/308zNo1

Step 1: Money Counter

The rst part was creating the money counter. I
printed a coin sorter using a 3D printer working in
such a way that the coin dropped falls into the hole
whose dimensions match the coin's size. Falling coin
interrupts the beam of light sending by the emitting
diode to the receiving diode, informing the electronic
part about the value of the inserted coin. You can see
a detailed description in my previous instructable.

DIY Vending Machine: Page 1

Step 2: Electronics and Board

I will start working with the second part of this
project by creating a circuit diagram because I know
what electronic components I want to use. As always, I
will use the microcontroller and battery charging
modules and add a servo and step-up converter to
them, because a 5V po w e r s upply is needed for
proper servo working. I will also add i2c outputs to
communicate with the money counter and to connect
the OLED display. Then I need to put all the elements
on the PCB and export it to Gerber les so that order it
from a professional manufacturer.

Download
https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FE8/FQW4/KCKISBDT/FE8FQW4KCKISBDT.brd
…

Download
https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FT3/KV0D/KCKISLE4/FT3KV0DKCKISLE4.sch
…

Step 3: PCB Ordering

I went to PCBW a y and clicked "Q uo t e No w " and
then "Q uic k O rd e r PCB " and "O n lin e Ge rb e r
Vie we r ", where I uploaded les for my board, so I
could see what it would look like. I went back to the
previous tab and clicked "Uplo a d Ge rb e r File ", I
chose my le and all parameters were loading
themselves, I changed only the soldermask colour to
blue and black. Then I clicked "S a ve To Ca rd ",
provided shipping details and paid for the order. After
two days the tile was sent, and after another two days,
it was already on my desk.

DIY Vending Machine: Page 2

Step 4: Desinging

My device should have a co nt a ine r for cigarettes
that will fall into the compartment where o nly o ne
cigarette can t. After throwing in the right amount of
money, it will be pus he d o ut by a servo-controlled
mechanism. It also ca nno t f a ll o ut due t o t he
m o v e m e nt of the machine, which is why I have to
remember about proper protection. I'll start by
designing a cigarette ejection mechanism. For this
purpose, I imported a servo and created a holder and
an element that converts ro t a t io na l movement t o
line a r movement. Then I made small corrections and
printed the next parts of the vending machine.

DIY Vending Machine: Page 3

 View in 3D Download
https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/F62/EDZT/KCKISGSY/F62EDZTKCKISGSY.stl
…

View in 3D Download
https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/FND/L7ZF/KCKISH0Q/FNDL7ZFKCKISH0Q.stl
…

View in 3D Download
https://www.instructables.com/ORIG/F1L/KMHM/KCKISH8D/F1LKMHMKCKISH8D.stl
…

Step 5: PCB Soldering

I will use a hot-air station when soldering elements on
the board, so I will rst apply solder paste to all
soldering pads. [When I did it, it was so hot at the outside
that the paste was melting, and if I put it outside I would
not have to use the hot-air station to solder the elements.
:)] I installed the nozzle with the la rg e s t diameter,
set the temperature to 30 0 de g re e s and the air ow
almost the s m a lle s t . There was no need to improve
anything with a regular soldering iron, but I used it to
solder goldpin connectors and a step-up converter.
Finally, I cleaned the board with isopropyl alcohol and
a toothbrush.

Step 6: Electronics Testing

I connected the oscilloscope probes (you can use a regular multimeter) to the connectors to which I will connect
DIY Vending Machine: Page 4
the servo and adjusted the voltage to 5V with a at screwdriver. Then I connected a programmer to my board and
uploaded the blink code to make sure that the microcontroller was working properly. The code is uploaded -
everything is ne.

Step 7: Folding

T he e le ct ro nics w o rk pro pe rly , the elements are
printed, I can go about assembling the machine. I
screwed the servo to the mounts, and to it the
cigarette ejection element. Then I screwed all the
printed elements together with small screws, put the
electronics into the housing and connected to my
board the servo, the display, a battery, a switch and
the money counter. I put the housing cover on, which
presses the board so that it does not move because I
did not put the screw holes in the board and glued it.
All t ha t is le f t is put cig a re t t e s in it !

DIY Vending Machine: Page 5

Step 8: Summary

This design is only a prototype, it can be slightly If you have any questions, write to me:
modi ed and you can add e.g. other types of
cigarettes and maybe a pump and liquid for
electronic cigarettes. O f co urs e , I do no t s m o ke My Youtube: YouTube
a nd do no t e nco ura g e s m o king , a nd e v e n
urg e y o u no t t o s m o ke ! Cigarettes are just an My Facebook: Facebook
example of using your own mini vending machine,
you can sell pens, pencils or maybe chewing gums, My Instagram: Instagram
candies or gums that help you stop smoking. It all
depends on your creativity! I invite you to check my Order your own PCB: PCBWay
previous projects!

DIY Vending Machine: Page 6

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