I had a friend automating a production line and he needed to detect the level of peanut butter in a vat. He settled on an ultrasonic device as basically anything else ended up caked in peanut butter. It was an impressive setup, all done in Arduino.
I wonder if its practical to DIY your own production line automation today with Arduino. Like if I had a simple product, could I buy stuff off the shelf and integrate it myself in my garage and end up with a little mini-factory? Exciting to think about.
I obsess over this concept. I am a robotics engineer and my dream is local manufacturing with small DIY machines. But it's a lot of work! When I have a little more time I want to teach community robotics classes and build machines that makes shoes and hot food and other important goods, designed and built as a community. I designed a cheap large format laser cutter [1][2] and now I am designing shoes that can be made with a 3D printer, the laser cutter, a sewing machine, and some basic tools. [3]
> I wonder if its practical to DIY your own production line automation today with Arduino.
Computation is rarely the problem.
It's all about sensors and actuators.
One of the best college projects ever was to make a "drink pouring machine". You have a half-dozen bottles of various alcohols and other liquids, a circular table, and a glass. Now, pour a martini. Now, pour a gimlet. etc.
What a nightmare! The liquids have different viscosities and consequent pour rates. And shutoff is rarely clean. And don't rotate too fast or you will mess up your glass position. It goes on ... and on ... and on.
Everyone who did that project came out ... changed.
The person I was describing runs a food production line and has modified various bits of equipment for speed, efficiency, safety and ease of use. They have got great results. They have no formal training, have no software background and basically go to https://www.dfrobot.com and get what they need, then hack.
Probably not impossible, but I think the bigger thing will be the time to research the mechanical design of whatever you're doing. That and finding reasonably priced sensors that will be reliable.
