Linux-Based Bar-Monkey 551
An anonymous reader writes "The Bar-Monkey is a bar built around a 486 running linux that can dispense an 8 ounce mixed drink in under 10 seconds. It uses a Matrix Orbital Serial LCD panel with a keypad built into the bar surface for user input. Three Harvey Mudd College students built the bar in their spare time last semester. The bar holds 16 ingredients with which it can currently mix 188 drinks stored in its drink database. Total project cost: $235."
kind of pianocktail ? (Score:2, Interesting)
Hey, in this time, nerds use to do jazz
YESSS!!! (Score:2)
Send us your Linux Sysadmin [librenix.com] articles!
Old News (Score:3, Funny)
And THOSE things had lasers, fix you right, mate!
Re:Old News (Score:4, Funny)
We all know that was a hoax. It was probably the Stone Cutters behind it. Afterall they did make Steve Gutenberg a star.
Re:Old News (Score:4, Funny)
Finally! (Score:5, Funny)
Hell, it's even cheaper than some versions of Windows, and it pours liquor!
Re:Finally! (Score:3, Interesting)
Better still... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Finally! (Score:5, Funny)
Oh wait, uuuhh, nevermind...
Re:Finally! (Score:3)
imgnie (Score:5, Funny)
*hic*
Cheap liquor? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Cheap liquor? (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Cheap liquor? (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Cheap liquor? (Score:2)
Thats great! (Score:5, Funny)
Wondeful.
Re:Thats great! (Score:3, Funny)
Linux for the masses (Score:2, Funny)
Re:Linux for the masses (Score:5, Funny)
All it needs now is Clippy (Score:5, Funny)
uhm.. (Score:5, Funny)
this was the very first slashdotted bartender...
With apologies... (Score:5, Funny)
LOL (Score:5, Informative)
For those of you who missed the reference, it's from the highly underrated Fifth Element. This guy is pouring out his heart to a bartender, and asks if he knows what he means.
Camera angle cuts over and the bartender's a robot. It shakes it's head no and askes "You want some more?", which is funny since that's pretty much the reaction I've gotten from human bartenders the two or three times I've gone to drown serious sorrows.
Re:With apologies... (Score:3, Informative)
Cornelius: "I feel so guilty sending her to do the dirty work. I know she was made to be strong but she's also so fragile... So human. You know what I mean?"
Bartender: [shaking head]
Hrmm (Score:4, Funny)
Barmonkey! (Score:5, Funny)
"Barmonkey.."
bleep bloop
"Tea, Earl Grey, Hot."
Re:Barmonkey! (Score:5, Funny)
Linux good for you health! (Score:5, Interesting)
Re:Linux good for you health! (Score:2)
Nice concept (Score:2)
Re:Nice concept (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Nice concept (Score:3, Interesting)
Never on Windows (Score:4, Funny)
Before each drink request, imbibers of legal age must slide their driver's license through a slot for verification, along with the card of a preauthorized designated driver (even for home use). Remember to make each successive drink request with the same glass you used for your first request, or nefarious activity will be suspected and the tap will shut down, forcing you to call Microsoft for a reactivation code.
Re:Never on Windows (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Nice concept (Score:3, Funny)
Ah! Found the agreement...
This Drink Mixing and Consuming Agreement (DMCA) is between Microsoft Corporation (known hereon as The Company) and yourself (known hereon as The Consumer).
The Consumer agrees that all recipes and formulations for any and all potables known by The MS-BarMonkey and any and all future additions to the drink library are the property of The Company.
The Consumer agrees that The Consumer will not attempt formulating these consumables without the use of the MS-BarMonkey.
The Consumer agrees that The Company may revoke this license at any time at which time The Consumer will pour all liquor and mix in their abode down the drain.
The Consumer will not share these drink formulations with outside parties as they are The Company's trade secrets.
..
..
But..... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:But..... (Score:5, Funny)
Well, you know... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Well, you know... (Score:2)
I want one (Score:5, Funny)
Of course not (Score:3, Funny)
RonB
Re:I want one (Score:5, Funny)
Expected Rapid Growth? (Score:2)
Currently has 30 registered user accounts, with expected rapid growth as people cease being broke.
This part is also right before the CounterCentral number of 860... there is certainly going to be rapid growth in traffic as well as interest.
Oh, and are there enough people out there who will "cease being broke"... the inverse of which now also happens to be the state of their site!
If they were smart... (Score:2, Interesting)
hmmmm.... I wonder if they're set up so I can use paypal to buy those guys a drink?
Needs ice (Score:4, Interesting)
finally, an appropriate use of technology (Score:5, Funny)
Making our lives miserable and giving us the attention span of hyperactive gnats by making us always available for harassment via telemarketers, pages, e-mails, and instant messages? Nope.
Giving us carpal tunnel syndrome and tendonitis just to move a cursor around the screen or pilot Mario around? Nah.
Making it so our kids can't use a paper library or fix their own spelling errors? No way...
Making it so the documents and esigns we spend our lives writing and creating have a recoverable life span less than a tenth that of the lowest-grade _paper_ available? Not even close...
Mixing a perfect gin and tonic? Now THAT'S technology!!!
Serious add-on idea (Score:5, Insightful)
Since the user would get all their drinks from the machine, it could generate a report on what a user's BAC is likely to be (x number of drinks over y amount of time, adjusted to body weight). It could flash this info the the user everytime they buy a drink, so they know if they're going to be over the legal limit for driving or if they're getting close to dangerous levels. Hell, the barmonkey could even cut people off.
"I'm sorry, the Monkey says you've had enough, dude."
Re:Serious add-on idea (Score:4, Insightful)
"I'm sorry, the Monkey says you've had enough, dude."
This feature would dramatically reduce the MTBF of the unit. Clinical tests have shown that human bartenders, having arms -- and frequently firearms, can get away with this behavior. However, defenseless mechanical devices tend to be smashed in to little pieces.
ha ha ha, M$ version is next. (Score:3, Funny)
Hmmm, that's entirely up to the owner of the machine but your ideas will show up in the WindowBar that Bill Gates will make. It will be advertised for three years, on the market in five years, cost four times as much, give you advice you don't want, report all this info back to Microsoft, then cut you off when your license runs out. Have you seen the clippy animation where he flips you off and calls you a weenie? You will.
Re:Serious add-on idea (Score:3, Funny)
select name, phone from users where sex='F' and drunk=True and approximate_weight=Whatever you like
too bad... (Score:5, Funny)
Sounds fun... a digest. (Score:5, Funny)
- Can it mix a flaming Homer?
- To add a new drink do you need to recompile the kernal
- Can you get KPeanuts?
- It'd do it in 9 seconds if it ran Gnome
- To get ice do you have to type MixScotch -ice
- Ah, but will it listen to how bad your day was. "Barmonkey? yeah Windows 98 crashed again"
Hmm, that's probably all of the non technical posts for this story.
But can it... (Score:2)
$235?... (Score:3, Funny)
Harvey Mudd? (Score:5, Funny)
.
Re:Harvey Mudd? (Score:3, Informative)
Mirror? (Score:2)
YOU KILLED MABEL! (Score:5, Funny)
Scratch Monkey (Score:3, Interesting)
Ahh! I used up my mod points yesterday... Please someone mod the parent up -- this is really funny! And for those who don't get the reference...
Long version: http://www.acme.com/jef/netgems/scratch_monkey.htm l [acme.com] t ch-monkey.html [tuxedo.org]
Short version: http://www.tuxedo.org/~esr/jargon/html/entry/scra
10 Seconds? (Score:4, Funny)
Then again, this thing might be a lot faster with draft Fosters only, rather than having all of thos other confusing ingrediants mucking things up.
Re:10 Seconds? (Score:2, Funny)
Combinations... (Score:3, Funny)
16^2-16 = 240. Where'd the rest of them go? :-)
Now imagine if you will, a Linux powered lunch counter cook...
Man: Well, what've you got?
Waitress: Well, there's egg and bacon; egg sausage and bacon; egg and spam; egg bacon and spam; egg bacon sausage and spam; spam bacon sausage and spam; spam egg spam spam bacon and spam; spam sausage spam spam bacon spam tomato and spam;
Vikings: Spam spam spam spam...
Oh, wait, it's already been predicted. Nevermind.
Re:Combinations... (Score:3, Interesting)
That should really be 16! (2, 092, 278, 988, 000), not 16^2 - 16, as a drink may consist of more than two ingredients (whether or not the glass could contain 16 measures is another matter). However, I hope it wouldn't suggest Coke and Tonic, 'cos that'd be nasty.
Text from main page (Score:5, Informative)
Designed and Implemented by Steven Avery, Dustin Cooper, and Brad Greer
of Harvey Mudd College
The Bar Monkey, simply put, is a vending machine that serves mixed drinks. It houses 16 reservoirs which currently contain the following ingredients:
* Vodka
* Rum
* Tequila
* Whiskey
* Gin
* Amaretto
* Triple Sec
* Kahlua (or coffee liqueur)
* Midori (or melon liqueur)
* Orange Juice
* Pineapple Juice
* Cranberry Juice
* Sour Mix
* Cola*
* Tonic*
* Grenadine*
*Ingredients currently under consideration for replacement
Using these 16 ingredients, a total of 188 different drinks can be made, with the included ability to add ounce increments of each ingredient to customize (or create) a drink. The drink database is easy to update and nearly infinitely expandable.
Customers sign up for a user account, for which they are assigned a unique, 5-digit, hexadecimal PIN. The account is debit-based, with each drink charging the customer at cost for the drink they are purchasing, automatically deducting from their account balance.
All told, the project took about 3 months and $235 to complete. It is worth mentioning, however, that the LCD (the most expensive single component) was donated (approx. value: $100+), and various other components were otherwise acquired for free. The Bar Monkey was graciously funded by West Dorm HMC, even though we were overbudget by $85. Continual maintenance and occasional improvements are still always a concern.
Some Pictures:
Beta Testing
Here's the cabinet when it was just a few shelves holding empty 2-liter bottles. One pump is hooked up to the computer for the purpose of taking time-constant data.
Soldering I
Having collected the time-constant data, Steve and Brad dutifully solder half-inch jumpers to each of the 4 leads on each of the 16 relays. Neither of us knows, to this day, why we did this outside.
Soldering II
Closeup of the meticulous but tedious jumper-soldering process.
Bartop Under Construction
The unfinished bartop, with various tools, containers, and other helpful things strewn across it in the midst of hard work.
The Monkey's Central Nervous System
The finished relay board, connected to the computer via parallel ports. The computer is running the Bar Monkey program, which displays the drink code prompt on the LCD.
LCD and Keypad Closeup
The above-mentioned drink prompt, but closer.
Behind the Scenes of the Relay Board
It looks really nice and neat on top, but the relay board was quite possibly the most difficult part of the entire project. What you see here are 16 relays, 16 diodes, 16 resistors, 16 transistors, and approximately 70 small segments of wire (not counting the 64 jumpers).
Inside the Finished Product I (shown above)
Pretty self-explanatory. The pumps and their respective reservoirs in place, the computer and relay board safely tucked on a shelf, the LCD behind a half-inch of acrylic, and all the tubes pulled through the PVC dispenser neck.
Inside the Finished Product II
Same as above, but from a different angle.
Electronics Closeup
The LCD, with extension cable to the keypad and serial cable to the computer, is at the top right. The bottom of the computer is unimpressive, though dominant in the frame, and the relay board is seen off to the side.
Outside the Finished Product
Here we see the Bar Monkey as customers see it, complete with Dustin's excellent stencil design and the nozzle, which is removable for cleaning.
The Finished Bartop
The top of the Bar Monkey, covered in rugged black plastic with a viewing window for the LCD.
Finished LCD and Keypad Closeup
It still looks pretty much the way it did when it was unfinished, only now it isn't just laying on the floor.
Drink Confirmation
The true beginning of the customer's experience with the Bar Monkey.
Technical Specs:
* Runs a program written in C by Dustin Cooper, in Linux.
* Bartop is approximately four feet above the ground.
* Holds approximately 1.75 liters of each ingredient.
* Uses 16 windshield washer pumps run by a 12V adaptor. Pumps are connected in parallel and run sequentially by the program.
* Dispenses an 8 oz. mixed drink in less than 10 seconds.
* Currently has 30 registered user accounts, with expected rapid growth as people cease being broke.
CounterCentral hit counters
Since 10:00 PM EST on Jan 7, 2003
I found the missing $85 (Score:5, Funny)
Wonder how that happened...
"Beta Testing"
Nevermind...
Re:Text from main page (Score:3, Informative)
The relays use the individual signal lines off the parallel cable to turn on and off, and relays are needed to ramp up to the 12v that the motors require.
I did something similar to this in grade eight electronics, by hacking a radio shack armatron to connect to a TRS-80, by soldering in wires to the control panel surfaces, and relays to up the voltage from the parallel port. Worked great, I was able to make the robot pick up a box of screws, turn, and dump them all over.
Timing was an issue, though, because the armatron did multiple things at a slower rate than if it was doing them seperately - presumably a current draw problem, which I wonder if these guys needed to address, or if they just have a powerful enough 12V supply that it can run all 16 at once without rate changes.
Harry Mudd College? (Score:2)
And didn't I hear the headmaster android was named Stella?
Or was all that something in a dream I had last night?
Re:Harry Mudd College? (Score:2)
Aren't all the female students there required to be on some kind of medication? Venus pills or something?
The Obvious Question (Score:5, Funny)
The Linux (Score:5, Funny)
2 shots Finlandia vodka
splash of triple-sec
twist of lime
straw for networking
Serve with ice.
Made this up as a joke at an ACM party back in college (we had a "Windows" too, but it was horrible and weak), but the Linux continues to be a favorite of mine.
Hmm, SPAM risk.. (Score:4, Funny)
finally (Score:2, Funny)
nice guts, bad user interface (Score:3, Insightful)
For v.2 I'd use a bigger LCD and display actual drink names, possibly grouped hierarchically by type or primary ingredient. Drink numbers would remain to act as a shortcut for patrons who remember the number of a drink they order often. A touch screen would kick ass but I think they're less robust and more expensive.
Since each patron has an account, I'd give it a "The Usual" button which could be set for each patron. Instead of a PIN, I'd also consider a card swipe. They're students so they could use their student ID as the card.
Problem (Score:2, Funny)
I'm not satisfied (Score:2, Funny)
Liquor, Liquor, everywhere (Score:3, Interesting)
Since it runs Linux... (Score:2, Funny)
This reminds me... (Score:5, Funny)
"The Stochastic Bartender"
Basically, it's a modified slotmachine, where instead of the three cherries, bananas and apples, there is a type of hard liquor, one liqueur and one mixer.
Drinks from The Stochastic Bartender cost half, on one condition - you only get to pull that lever once.
I'm telling you - that devil piece of machinery can come up with some truly repulsive shit:
4cl Bäska Droppar ("Bitter Drops", Swedish vodka spiced with wormwood, this stuff makes you feel like a man)
Blue Curacao
Grapefruite juice
Windshield washer pumps! (Score:5, Interesting)
YUCK!
Sorry, I'd rather use something less likely to contaminate the fluid I was moving.
A peristaltic pump [google.com] would be far better - you get volumetric measuring free, and you can use medical grade non-contaminating tubing.
Re:Windshield washer pumps! (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Windshield washer pumps! (Score:3, Funny)
(yeah I know, DISGUSTING. and STUPID too!! but he was in high school, so he was young & stupid by definition
Anyway, his "system" worked great until one day when his dad used the car & the windshield was dirty.......
Re:Windshield washer pumps! (Score:3, Interesting)
As long as they've never been used to pump fuel they should be fine, plus as they are designed to pump fuels the alchohol should not make it perish or degrade.
Re:Windshield washer pumps! - solution (Score:3, Informative)
if you would simply buy a few old pepsi or coke premix containers that are stainless steel and simply use older but still purchaseable at low cost soda fountian parts you can have each of the canisters hold each ingredient in a fridge. pressurize each canister as they are supposed to be via CO2 and use stainless solenoid valves. you wont get super accurate dispensing unless you do aholding bottle... open valve 1 fill 1 ounce length of line, close valve one open valve 2 to dispense while valve 3 opens to purge the line to actually do the dispensing.
I'd just go with a simple timer and open the valve for a certian time constant.. if someone accidnetly get's a stronger drink... whooptie doo.
I discovered adding a soda bar to by basement is dirt cheap if you go for the older technology.. I purchased the premix-canisters from ebay for $5.00 each and simply use food grade tubing and CO2 is the absolute cheapest gas on the planet.
PROBLEM... Orange juice is horribly acidic and will attack anything... including stainless steel. get low acid juice or remove that ingredient from your selection.
Re:Windshield washer pumps! (Score:3, Interesting)
There's a good story about the windshield washer pumps that I haven't seem anybody tell yet. Before I tell it, though, I need to say a few quick things. The first is that I've spent a fair amount of time with Harvey Mudd students recently, and they tend to be seriously gifted individuals. I've also spent time with M.I.T., CalTech, and Rose Hulman students (to name a few), and I have to say that the Mudders are seriously underrated on the global undergraduate stage. These folks are personable, inquisitive, dedicated, and enormously talented. And funny. Really funny.
Forgive me if I'm telling it wrong, this is second- and third-hand information.
Not long after the bar monkey became operational, it was being used over the course of an evening to serve cocktails in the lounge. When the students retired for the evening, they deactivated the monkey and left to finish their 'stems homework and whatnot. Later that night, there was a localized power disruption, though I don't know its duration. What I do know is that the monkey wasn't on a UPS of any sort (and for $200, can you really blame them?) and lost power.
When power was restored, and the machine booted back into linux, the parallel port data bits were apparently all lifted high at some point in the boot process. This, unfortunately, meant that all of the liquor-dispensing windshield wiper pumps were briefly activated. Now, as someone who has hooked a large inductive load to a DC power supply can attest, the momentary current draw of having all of these pumps simultaneously active was not negligible. In fact, it overwhelmed the power supply, but only after a shot of Bottle 1 + Bottle 2 had been dispensed onto the floor. Vodka and rum, I believe it was.
Now, when the power supply sensed its overcurrent condition (I believe this is how the story goes), it did the noble thing and: rebooted. You can see where this is going: lather, rinse, repeat. The rebooting webmonkey once again lifted its data pins high, once again tripped the power supply overcurrent sensor, and once again rebooted the monkey (all the while dispensing yet another tasty shot of Bottle 1+Bottle 2 onto the floor).
By the time someone came back to check on the monkey in the morning (a few hours later), the monkey had apparently drenched the floor in vodka, and was still rebooting. I'm told only bottles 1 and 2 were drained, and that the rest of the precious nectar was left intact inside the monkey.
I'm convinced that nobody who witnessed the aftermath of this event will ever again neglect the power cycling / bootstrapping phase of an electronic device. I don't have a link to it, but I seem to remember AT&T having a similar problem with their switching software across the Atlantic seaboard, maybe six or seven years ago. You can draw your own conclusions, but if I were trying to hire a hardware engineer (not that there's really any other kind, you wimpy IT CS MIS MSCE slashdot derelicts), I'd give much greater weight to their ability to explain the projects they've completed (and the associated lessons learned), than I would to a 4.0 GPA or a Cisco certificate of trainability.
Mudd grads (math, science, engineering, and other) are presently worth four times their weight in silver the first year after they graduate -- and that's a bargain. They should be worth at least one twenty-fifth their weight in rhodium.
Re:Windshield washer pumps! (Score:3, Interesting)
That was one of my big questions when I first read this - how do they transfer the liquids.
Why even bother with pumps in the first place. Why not use gravity and solenoids food grade solenoids are a LOT cheaper than food grade pumps and you can get them for about $10 each at most RV dealers - sometimes less if you buy in bulk. Then just use a PWM setup like a fuel injector to measure out the amounts of each liquid.
Re:Windshield washer pumps! (Score:3, Informative)
Strapping a rocket to your back while wearing skis might also be considered ingenious.
That does NOT mean that it is not DANGEROUS.
Using a non-food grade pump to handle things you plan on ingesting is a bad idea. When the substance you plan on moving consists of one of the world's premire polar solvent mixes, it become downright DANGEROUS.
Sorry, but I used to design industrial robotics for a living - perhaps I am just a bit harder to impress than most.
I want one! (Score:5, Interesting)
Now you implement the robots and your initial investment in them is $1500 and cost to run is literally nothing but electricity. In addition you would need 1 person there responsible for checking IDs and swapping out liquours, so that is say $100/day because you aren't giving the person tips anymore. You've saved yourself approximately $50/day in operating costs which means in 30 days the robots have paid for themselves and you see profits increase by $50/day which over the course of the year is $18,250. I'd say this is a bloody good idea if someone had the resources to market and mass produce this.
Re:I want one! (Score:3, Informative)
However, this would be illegal or unwise in states where the bar owner is assumed to have liability for the actions of overly inebriated persons. Half of bartending school is how to recognize and handle customers who have had too much. Sad but true, in our litigious society.
Not to mention that you're a cheap bastard for not wanting to tip :-).
Re:I want one! (Score:3, Funny)
This still doesn't make sense, because even a green Linux admin is going to cost you more than 4 full-time bartenders easily.
No machine can run without maintenance forever.
Re:I want one! (Score:5, Insightful)
This is awesome! This has plausable commercial implications. How nice would it be to goto a bar and not have to worry about tipping someone, you just slide your credit card or insert your money and select your drink and you get it in 10 seconds. If I owned a bar I would consider it.
You obviously haven't spent enough time in a bar, and have never been a bartender. Bars don't sell liqour - they sell socialization. You already have a self-service bartender, it's called your home liqour cabinet. Most humans go out becuase they want to socialize. They like talking sports with Jeff behind the bar, or flirting with Suzy the cocktail waitress.
Any bar using these would loose revenue quickly. I've been a bartender, and I can tell you this - a good tender, or a good staff can easily double or triple a bar's income. A bad one can drive customers away. A good bartender makes customers feel good... so they stay and spend more money. If that bartender makes a good enough impression, they might keep coming back and doing so on different nights. A bad bartender makes people go elsewhere. So you can have your robot bar, but I'll stick to my old-fashioned, human charisma driven service model. And come Friday night, I bet my bar will be the one that's packed.
Punch the Monkey (Score:5, Funny)
And if you are two drunk to punch the monkey, you need to go home.....
My Question is.. (Score:5, Funny)
Can it handle a Big Gulp Gin and Tonic?
Comment removed (Score:5, Informative)
A man walks into a bar... (Score:5, Funny)
The bartender asks the man "What the hell is wrong with your monkey?"
To which the man replies "He ate a cue-ball last week. Now he measures everything before he eats it."
Slightly OT (Score:3, Interesting)
Use your printer port (Score:3, Informative)
I'd suggest using solid state relays (SSR)'s - your printer port wouldn't drive a normal relay directly, but it could drive an SSR.
Either that, or use the printer port to drive a transistor, then use the transistor to drive the coil on a standard relay.
Don't forget to add a snubber network across the relay coil - either a diode or a capacitor. Otherwise the inductive kickback from the coil when you de-energize it could fry things.
Re:Slightly OT (Score:5, Informative)
There's a book called Controlling the world through your PC, or something like that. It's old and comes with a floppy disk, but i recall it having schematics for hooking things up to the paralle port. You can wire it directly but you generally want opto-isolators so you can't fry your computer. You can also get a wide array of stuff to interface to the serial port. I like the motoralla 68hc11 microcontroller. It does cool shit (we actually used one in a previous barmonkey prototype), and the evaluation board with chip runs around $100. Try http://www.axman.com/
Also, the amazon page for the above book:
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detai
The "customers who bought this also bought this" section may be helpful
Thank good it doesn't use voice recognition (Score:5, Funny)
At least it's not voice recognition, then I'd be in BIG trouble.
I'ddd liiikke an Aba..laamba Slaammmer plleease.
Enough with the flaming Homers! (Score:3, Funny)
Re:slashdot (Score:2)