Powder Mixture Automation

"EA-2" stands for "Experimental Apparatus No.2", and the nickname of the project "Scamander" comes from J. K. Rowling's famous fiction "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them". In this fiction, the character Newt Scamander is the author of the textbook "Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them". I named this project "Scamander", which means "Fantastic Chemical Formulas and Where They Are Made."

The chemical powder mixture preparation automation can prepare 96 different mixtures within 14 hours, which is 6 times faster than manual preparation. The machine offers 40 types of powder for selections. I designed components using AutoCAD and printed them with Ender-3S 3D printer. I also soldered electronic components onto circuit boards to control the step motors. 12 step motors controlled the XY motions of the powder boxes and the empty bottles. The signal control of powder boxes is implemented by a series of connected shift registers. The weight of powder mixture is measured by Shimadzu ATY-124 balance. The control program integrated LabVIEW, Arduino, and VBA. This machine can weigh the powder according to the user's experimental design and record any discrepancies.

▲Full view of EA-2 Scamander.(Click to enlarge)

▲Measuring the weight of powder.

▲Initializing. The control program integrated LabVIEW, Arduino, and VBA. Starting from LabVIEW, calling VBA(Excel) to read the user's chemical powder formulation plan, generating control codes accordingly, then controlling Arduino to drive stepper motors for starting the experiment. The readings from the balance are obtained via RS-232.

▲LabVIEW block diagram of EA-2.(Click to enlarge)

Testing and the construction of EA-2

▲Powder boxes. The controller board mounted on each box.

▲Powder box was under testing.

▲The test of initializing motion.

Originally written in Chinese by the author, these articles are translated into English to invite cross-language resonance.