Hello and welcome to DIY Machines where in
todays episode I'm going to show you how to
build your very own portable, battery powered
and bluetooth controlled dry ice machine.
And it has colour changing
LEDs...
> It's a really cool trick for your next Halloween party. >
You can also choose to print a different nozzle.
This one is great for creating a low lying
fog effect.
You'll need a few things to build one of your
own. I've put links down below where you can
find these items on Amazon.
You will need an Arduino Nano.
An L298N motor driver board.
8 Cell battery holder with integrated switch
and eight AA batteries to go with it.
A mini self-adhesive breadboard.
A 12v high torque DC motor with geared reduction
box.
A HM10 bluetooth module.
A couple of contact switches.
A stationery holder.
Some M3x6 and M3 x 10 bolts.
Three M3 nuts
and two M3 washers. One long M6 bolt and two
M6 nuts.
My bolt is about 40mm long.
And some wires. I'm going to use a mixture
of breadboarding wires and some ordinary wire
to solder with.
Some filament for the 3D printed
parts.
I am using PLA.
A container for the main body. I'm using a
plastic food container which measures about
20cm wide, 20cm deep and 27cm high.
Optionally, if you would like to add LEDs
to your nozzle like I have mine you will need
a ring of LEDs.
This project is made possible thanks to the
generosity and support of my Patreons and chillistick.com.
You will find a link to Chillistick and
my Patreon page in the description below.
The first thing we need to print is the arm
which holds the dry ice container. I have
printed mine in PLA with an infill percentage
of 60% as it needs to be strong to lift the
ice and cope with the steam from the hot water
and the cold air from the dry ice.
Once the print is complete you will need to
remove the support material.
Put the stationary pot into the arms which
we just printed. Lower this inside your container
and then mark on the side where we need to
drill a hole so that the arm is able to move
up and down without colliding with the rest
of the container.
Make another mark on the opposite side of
the container.
Drill both of these marks out with an 8mm
drill bit.
Offer up the motor to one side of the container
and then draw where we need the screw holes
to be to mount the motor.
Drill these four marker out again, but this
time, us a 3mm drill bit.
Use four of the M3 x 6 bolts to secure the
motor.
Now we will add an M3 x 6 bolt and nut to
the main arm. This will be used later to secure
the arm to the shaft of the motor. The nut
goes on the inside of the arm. Use a small
allen key to help hold it in place whilst
you fit the bolt.
Next we will fit the M6 bolt and M6 nuts to
the other side of the arm.
Fit the second bolt inside the 3D printed
limit arm and for the time being, screw this
loosely onto the bolt.
Now let's start with the electronics. Print
the housings bottom part and then place the
motor driver into its position in the bottom
right.
You some of your M3 x 6 screws to hold this
in place. Offer the housing unto the back
of the container and use a pen to mark where
we need drill the holes for the bolts.
Use a 3mm drill bit for these holes. Secure
this in place by using two of the M3 x 6 bolts,
the M3 washers and two M3 nuts.
Now add the Arduino Nano to the breadboard.
Ensuring that the side with 5V on it has three
spare holes and the other has two.
Plug the Arduino Nano into your PC using a
USB cable.
Launch the Arduino IDE, download a copy of
the code using the link in the description
below. Ensure you have the board type Arduino
Nano selected. the processor is an ATmega328P,
and check you have the right serial connection.
Now you can upload your code to the Arduino
Nano. Peel off of the self-adhesive backing
and push it into place.
If you would prefer to follow a wiring diagram
you will find one linked in the description
below, otherwise, watch on.
Now we will extend the wires coming from the
battery holder. The wires will need to come
down the side of it up to this terminal on
the motor driver board.
Insert the eight AA batteries into the holder.
And use some hot melt glue to secure it into
place. Wrap some insulation around your solder
joints to stop them from shortening the circuit.
Connect the two wires from the battery holder
to the motor driver board. the red one goes
up top and the black one in the middle.
To connect the motor to the motor driver board
feed through the white and red wires. The
red wire goes on the left at the top, and
then the white wires goes to the right at
the top.
The unused wires on the motor aren't required
- these can be trimmed away.
Now we need to ad a short length of wire from
he ground terminal on the motor driver board
the ground on the Arduino Nano.
Remove this jumper from the motor driver board.
Use a wire to join 'Enable A' from the motor
shield to Digital 11 on the Arduino. From
'Input 1' on the motor shield to Digital 9
on the Arduino and finally from 'Input 2'
to Digital 8 on the Arduino.
Now we need to solder some wire to our contact
switches. The wire will need to be long enough
to go from herbal the way through the casing
and back to the Arduino Nano.
Once you have finished soldering, feed all
four wires through the side of the case. Connect
one wire from each switch to ground. The remaining
wire from one switch can go to Digital 3 and
then the wire on the other switch can go to
Digital 4.
Connect your Arduino to your PC via USB again
and open he Arduino IDE. Open the serial monitor
and ensure that the baud rate is 9600. Now
we will install our limit switches. Undo the
nut with the arm on slightly and apply some
glue to shaft of the bolt and then screw the
bolt back on ensuring that the arm sets in
the same position as the 3D print inside the
container.
Switch on the power coming from your AA batteries.
Now with the stationary holder back in place
inside your 3D printed part we can send a
capital 'D' through the Arduino serial monitor
lower the arm slightly. You want to continue
to lower it until the stationary holder can
swivel freely without hitting the 3D printed
parts.
Now apply some glue to the contact switch
which is connected to Digital 4 on the Arduino.
You want to push this into places that the
contact switch is engaged its current position.
You can test that this switch is working by
sending a capital 'D' through the serial monitor
to lower the container and then sending some
capital 'U's for 'up'. The container should
stop trying to move once it hits the contact
switch.
Now for the lower limit switch, send the capital
'D' for down again until the stationery container
is just touching the bottom of the container.
This is the position where you will want to
glue the other switch. Remember, the contact
switch wants to be already pressed when you
glue it up against the leaver. Test this switch
again just like you did with the previous
one.
Now you might find like me that you have some
surplus wire. you can shorten these wires
and it will help to tidy up your electronics.
Take the bluetooth module and solder four
6cm lengths of wire to each of the four legs.
Connect the wire from VCC not he bluetooth
module to 3.3v on the Arduino Nano. The ground
wire can go to a ground connection. The wire
which is coming from Transmit on the bluetooth
module wants to go to the receiving one and
then the receiving wire from the module wants
to go to the transmit connection on the Arduino
Nano. Carefully bend the wires on the bluetooth
module and install it into its place.
Now we have just one more wire to add. This
is from the 5V output on the motor shield
to 5V on the Arduino Nano. This is how we
will power it from the battery pack.
Now we can assemble our nozzles for the dry
ice machine. First I'm going to show you how
to make this super simple low-level fogger
and then I will show you how to assemble this
volcanic nozzle with integrated LED lighting
effects.
the part to print this nozzle is 'Nozzle 1.STL'.
I printed it on the side with supports in
PLA with a layer height of 0.2mm.
Once finished, place it on top of your lid
and then mark where the four corners are.
You will then need to mark another four points
just inside of these. Use a ruler to join
the dots and then cut this inner square out.Put
some hot-melt glue onto the top of the 3D
print and then insert this from the underside
of the lid.Push it firmly inlace until it
has cooled.
For the volcanic nozzle with integrated LED's
print the file 'Nozzle 2.STL'. Again I used
PLA with a layer height of 0.2mms. First thing
we need to do is solder three wires to our
Neopixels. Soldering one to power, a second
to Ground and then the third to Digital In.
Now thread the three wires coming from the
LEDs down through the top of the nozzle and
out through this hole. Add some hot melt glue
to the back of the LEDs and then these can
also go down the top of the nozzle and be
pushed firmly into its holding spot.
Add a dab of hot-melt glue to where the wires
pass through and then use some pieces of insulation
tape to tidy up the wiring. You can now use
some hot-melt glue to hold this into place
just like the other nozzle, but this time,
make sure that the wires come out on the top
side of the lid. Now the lead for the power
goes to a 5V connection, the Ground lead goes
to Ground and then the Digital In lead needs
to go to D6 on the Arduino.
Route the cabling down the side of the battery
holder and then we can fit the lead using
three M3 x 6 bolts.
Now to connect to your dry ice machine via
bluetooth you need to download an app to your
phone. I'm using an Apple device and have
downloaded an app called 'HM10 Bluetooth Serial'.
If you haven't already got an app just search
your app store for 'HM10 Bluetooth' and you
should be able to find something to send serial
commands other bluetooth to your Arduino.
You just need to send a single uppercase character
for each of the commands.
Send a 'U' to move the container upwards and
send a 'D' to move the container downwards.
Then to control the LEDs you can send 'R'
for red, 'B' for blue, 'G' for green, 'W'
for white and 'O' to turn off the LEDs.
We are now at the point in the project where
we will be using some dry ice. Dry ice is
extremely cold and will burn you if i touches
your bare skin. Follow all of the safety instruction
provides by your supplier and you will have
plenty of fun without having to take anyone
to A&E.
Fill the bottom of the container with some
hot, but not boiling water. Then you can take
some of your dry ice and load up the metal
stationery container. Secure your lid with
the nozzle of your choice on stand then you
can enjoy your finished project.
Thanks for watching. why not check out some
of the other projects available on my channel?
If you haven't yet, don't forget to subscribe
and share this with anybody who might like
to build one of their own. Until next time,
chow for now.
