The Machine of Answers

Should you ask your boss for a raise? Call that cute guy you met at a party? Sell your stock?  Wouldn’t it be nice to have a handy method of handling some of life’s more pressing dilemmas?

This machine give you the answer to all you life pressing dilemmas. You need to concentrate on your question for 10 seconds, and when you feel the time is right, press the button, and the machine will give you the answer.

Step 1: Bill of Materials

Let's start with the BOM:

PRINTED PART:
Print all the STL files:

1 x ButtonHolder-1005.stl
1 x logoPen-1005.stl
1 x ingranaggioGrande-1005.stl
1 x ingranaggioPiccolo-1005.stl
1 x FlapStaffaLibera-1005.stl
1 x FlapStaffaMotore-1005.stl
2 x NBottom-1005.stl
2 x Ntop-1005.stl
2 x FlapRuota-1005.stl

Threaded rod:

4 x M8x250  
3 x M8x150
1 x M8x180

Other:
100 x M8 nuts
100 x m8 washers
40 x iron wire diameter= 1 mm, length= 95 mm
2 x 608 "roller skate" bearings
6 x M3x15mm bolt

ELECTRONICS:
1 x ARDUINO UNO
1 x pololu stepper driver A4988
1 x stepper motor (eg. 35BYG104)
1 x Arduino Proto Shield
1 x LED
1 x push button 12x12 mm
1 x 10kOhm  resistor
1 x 320Ohm resistor

Step 2: Build the Structure

Now you can build the structure.
In yellow the printed parts and in gray the threaded rod.

Fix the part to the threaded rod with washers and nuts.

Step 3: Build the Rotor

To build the rotor use the 190 mm M8 threaded rod.
Put each component in oder and when finished close the nuts.

In the picture you can see:
- the gear in red
- the bearings in green
- the two weels with the holes for the iron wire 

You can choose not to use a nut between the gear and the wheel but 3 or 4 washers.

Step 4: Adjust the Mechanical Behaviour

Put the small gear on the stepper, you can fix on the stepper with a M3 bolt.

Now put the mechanical and the stepper motor all togher and verify that:

1. the structure is stable and don't move on a plan surface  (use the nut to adjust angles).
2. the stepper, the gear and the rotor move freely (be aware not to let the motor wire be connected each other).

Step 5: Build the Electronics

The mount the electronic I use an Arduino and an Arduino prototype shield.

In the prototype shield mount the stepper driver and the simple electronics for the led and the button.

Refer to the datasheets for details.

Mount the button holder and the button and led.

Connect motor, button e led to the shield.

Step 6: Upload the Software

Download the software attached to this step.
Change the number of the pin using your configuration.
Add the acceleratedStepper library.

Upload the sketch on Arduino.

Now verify that motor, led and button are working fine.

Step 7: Build the Cards

Prepare a 80x80 card with some nice answer.

You can take inspiration (not copy of course) from www.thebookofanswers.com .

One card contains the instruction of the use the machine; something like this:
" this is the machine of anwsers, think to your question, wait 10 seconds and press the button. The machine will gives you the answer"

Put the iron wired pieces on the rotor using the 40 hole and attach the cards with some transparent adhesive tape.