Zack Burchman Travis Gang Dana Geer Matt Seekins Faculty Advisor: Mike Rosen GMCR Contacts: Wade Hodge Paul Comey Jason King

Acknowledgements Anthony Fouche Floyd Vilmont Wade Hodge from GMCR Dick Chamberlain from Watlow Ryan Larson from Burton Prof. Jeff Frolik

Problem Design and build a prototype machine to disassemble waste K- Cups from the GMCR factory.

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Movie-Close Up

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Back to Square One  First At home device for a few cups a day  Then Tasked with building a machine to disassemble 80,000 K-Cups/day  4 waste streams  Cost and time prohibitive

Agreed Upon Goals  Proof of concept  Machine will: Break foil weld Remove grounds and foil  Process to significantly reduce environmental waste  Conform to GMCR restraints for safety and noise

Some Early Concepts  Use punch to remove foil/plastic weld Designed and built by Ryan fall semester  Grind entire cup and separate based on density  Reheat foil weld and shear off lid  Reheat and use high power suction to remove lid

Initial Concept: Piston controlled mechanism, moving custom cast heating element, no rotation. Stationary heating element Rotation of punch Moving heating element Slotted pipe to allow rotation Servo motor and spline Spikes added to cup holder Vacuum with mechanical cup holder Lower vacuum Vacuum with mechanical cup holder Spring guide added to cup holder Linear acuator Piston Tubular rod heating element Custom Cast heating element Final Prototype: Linear actuator movement, stationary custom cast heating element, punch with servo controlled rotation. Vacuum system with lower suction device. Sensors

Overall Design

Individual Designs

Control Components

Assembly Photos

Assembly Photos (cont.)

Demonstration

If we were to continue…  Add sensors  Heating element feedback loop  Add on filter removal mechanism  Better account for mis-manufactured cups  Change out pneumatics for linear actuators  Improved vacuum system  Adjusted punch assembly

Lessons  Planning is critical. It is vital to determine the critical path, make deadlines and stick to them!  Make sure your design is actually buildable.  Effective teamwork

Movie Heat/Punch- 1 st Try Ever

Movie Vacuum- Whole Cup