Planting seed gate (microcontroller code and mechanical assembly)
Budget: $25 – $50 USD
Part of a larger project I'm working on requires an assembly to release seeds from a container.
The seeds are of inconsistent diameter and shape (though they're all roughly spherical)
The seeds can be between .2 and 1cm
The user needs to be able to specify the number of seeds to release per actuation (2 x momentary buttons for increasing decreasing seed count)
The user needs to be able to trigger the actuation (1 x momentary buttons)
The user should be able to see the current seeds to release per actuation, and the total number of seeds released (microcontroller + small LCD or OLED screen)
The gating mechanism is really where the hard work comes in. There are lots of ways of accomplishing this task (like a solenoid gate), but the main goals are to have the mechanism be accurate, reliable, and as inexpensive and mechanically simple as possible.
You have some flexibility on what microcontroller you use, but an Arduino, Pi Zero, or ESP would be logical choices. The screen should be relatively small.
The seeds are of inconsistent diameter and shape (though they're all roughly spherical)
The seeds can be between .2 and 1cm
The user needs to be able to specify the number of seeds to release per actuation (2 x momentary buttons for increasing decreasing seed count)
The user needs to be able to trigger the actuation (1 x momentary buttons)
The user should be able to see the current seeds to release per actuation, and the total number of seeds released (microcontroller + small LCD or OLED screen)
The gating mechanism is really where the hard work comes in. There are lots of ways of accomplishing this task (like a solenoid gate), but the main goals are to have the mechanism be accurate, reliable, and as inexpensive and mechanically simple as possible.
You have some flexibility on what microcontroller you use, but an Arduino, Pi Zero, or ESP would be logical choices. The screen should be relatively small.