2020 UMich Makeathon
Design Case Competition | February 2020

I participated in the 2020 Makeathon at the University of Michigan. We were given 36 hours to design a novel product that performs a task or solves a currently unsolved problem. For the project, my partner and I designed an automatic bottle opener.

My partner and I won 3rd place overall.

Video of bottle opening: Bottle Opening

Electrical:

• Arduino based processing
• Bottle presence sensed using a limit switch
• Brushed DC motor drives the opening mechanism

Mechanical:

• 3D printed housing holds bottle in place during opening
• Lead screw mechanism provides enough mechanical advantage to open almost any bottle
• Mechanism is spring loaded to keep contact with the bottle during opening

Software:

• Simple state machine that detects bottle presence, drives the lead screw to open, then returns to home position

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