1. Automatic Beer Bottle Filler and Capper
C-4P5
Automatic Beer Bottle Filler and Capper
Aaron Landy
IMDL Fall 2013
September 12, 2013

2. Motivation Homebrewing is fun, bottling beer is hard
Time consuming process requires individually filling and capping bottles of different shapes and sizes
~50 bottles per 5 gal batch

3. Objectives Fill bottles with precise amounts
Cap bottles securely without breaking
Support inconsistent bottle shapes and sizes
Seek/retrieve bottles automatically
Do not contaminate, oxidize, damage, or waste beer

4. Mechanisms Four primary mechanisms: Bottle searching/retrieving claw
Infrared and bump sensors to locate bottle
Filling tube
Stainless steel tube lowered into bottle
Tube opening must be pressed against bottom of bottle to minimize agitation to prevent oxidation or contamination
Cap retrieving/placing magnet
Caps must be picked up from top of bottle and held during filling
Cap must be replaced precisely on top of bottle
Capping actuator
Forceful linear actuator with capping “bell” crimps/seals cap onto bottle

5. Electronics Raspberry Pi (Model B rev. 2)
Infrared Range Finder and bump to detect bottles
Raspberry Pi Camera module to calculate bottle height and volume
Arduino + Stepper Motors + Motor Driver to drive linear motion axes
Servos to open and close, turn claw

6. Design and Operation

7. Questions ?