Objective: To tackel the problem of time that consumers and industries face when selecting and purchasing, slicing, and toasting bread. The idea behind the ATA is to combine slicing and toasting of a nice full loaf of bread to save on time and improve the quality of the toast. This started as a rough idea and has evolved over the semester into a full product prototype ready for household or industrial use.
Bellow you can see the evolution from a simple idea to our Alpha Prototype.
Bellow you can see the evolution from a simple idea to our Alpha Prototype.
Designed by Anthony Cutuli, this rough model is made to take a whole loaf of bread and slice it to a desired thickness.
-The whole system is a toaster oven that toasts the loaf of bread while it is being sliced.
-This is designed to take the place of a conventional toaster oven.
Problems:
-Large size
-Can only slice and toast the whole loaf of bread
-The whole system is a toaster oven that toasts the loaf of bread while it is being sliced.
-This is designed to take the place of a conventional toaster oven.
Problems:
-Large size
-Can only slice and toast the whole loaf of bread
This design also used the toaster oven concept but had multipul blades for different number of slices selection and a belt for automated toasting.
-problems:
-The large size
-Toasts the entire loaf.
Functional requirements:
-Automated system user interface
-Take a loaf of bread in and out put toast
-Selection of number of slices and degree of heat
-problems:
-The large size
-Toasts the entire loaf.
Functional requirements:
-Automated system user interface
-Take a loaf of bread in and out put toast
-Selection of number of slices and degree of heat
Critical Functions:
-Moves blade up/down
-Powers blade
-Toasts when blade is down
This was achieved by the following:
-Prototyping material was used for the structure.
-A stepper motor and threaded rod were used to move the blade and blade motor up and down.
-An electric knife blade and motor were used to cut the bread.
-A nickel coil was used to head the toast.
-The whole system was controlled using an Arduino micro controller.
Problems:
-Stepper motor does not have enough torque
-Heating element only toasts one side or slice
-Electrical issues
-Moves blade up/down
-Powers blade
-Toasts when blade is down
This was achieved by the following:
-Prototyping material was used for the structure.
-A stepper motor and threaded rod were used to move the blade and blade motor up and down.
-An electric knife blade and motor were used to cut the bread.
-A nickel coil was used to head the toast.
-The whole system was controlled using an Arduino micro controller.
Problems:
-Stepper motor does not have enough torque
-Heating element only toasts one side or slice
-Electrical issues
Due to problems with design for the critical functions model the following changes were made:
-Arm motion to lower blade to bread
-Redefined toasting/heating device
-Redone structure removing a lot of empty space
For the solid modeling assignment, our team created the individual components that we were working on and created the what we want the final product to look like.
The final design still kept to the functional requirements.
-Arm motion to lower blade to bread
-Redefined toasting/heating device
-Redone structure removing a lot of empty space
For the solid modeling assignment, our team created the individual components that we were working on and created the what we want the final product to look like.
The final design still kept to the functional requirements.
Going off the new design, changed after the critical functions model, and keeping with the functional requirements, the team was able to produce the final alpha prototype. This device successfully:
-Took user input for number of slices and degree of toast.
-Sliced through a loaf of bread and toasted it multiple times.
-Ejected the sliced toast and let the loaf fall down to slice again.
-Did so in the designed case.
The image above shows the interior working structure of the final product. The image bellow shows the final product and how it would look on your kitchen counter top. The video bellow shows the ATA going through its motions, from user input to eating the bread.
-Took user input for number of slices and degree of toast.
-Sliced through a loaf of bread and toasted it multiple times.
-Ejected the sliced toast and let the loaf fall down to slice again.
-Did so in the designed case.
The image above shows the interior working structure of the final product. The image bellow shows the final product and how it would look on your kitchen counter top. The video bellow shows the ATA going through its motions, from user input to eating the bread.
Zach White | Ian Carr | Jeff Bednarz | Claudia Garcia | Anthony Cutuli | Steve Kurinec