Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories put together an impressive automatic drink-making machine last year which they called the Drink-Making Unit. This year they’ve reinvented it with a whole new style and twice as many ingredient options. And in keeping with the descriptive style of naming, it is known as the Drink-Making Unit 2.0.
The design is based on the “deer chaser” model, which you may have encountered in Japan or Japanese media: liquid is poured into a cylinder that gradually fills until the balance changes, tipping the container and pouring out the contents. In order to make it science-y, EMSL made its deer chasers out of graduated cylinders. Liquor is pulled out of flasks and poured into these, and when it reaches the measure necessary (an ounce, I suppose), in it goes to the central funnel.
The flasks are filled with the liquor of choice and sealed; liquid is expelled from the bottom of the flask by pumping air into the top. It’s all direct by a little microcontroller that takes input from a panel of buttons and keeps track of liquor supply and timing of pours.
Although part of the draw of getting a drink made is, of course, the human element, this little bot would no doubt be a hit even at the high-end cocktail-science bars in Seattle like the Zig Zag and Liberty. Lots more info can be found at EMSL’s site, and more pictures at their Flickr page.
[via Hack a Day]