CoBot Bartender Lab

A collaborative robot and PLC final project that turns an automation lab into a drink-making challenge students actually want to solve.

teachingautomationroboticshardware

What happened

Build story

I wanted a final project for my Industrial Automation course that felt genuinely fun. Students already liked hearing about my automated bartender builds, so I turned that energy into a CoBot and PLC lab project.

Students had to program the PLC and collaborative robot to dispense four drinks in different sizes while coordinating buttons, a potentiometer, motor control, encoder feedback, and an ice-scooping task.

I reused the bottle clip and pump designs from my home bartender project, then built the rest specifically for the lab. The button stand, scoop holder, and cup rings were 3D printed, while the bottle stands and tray wedge were laser cut.

The signaling problem between 24V PLC hardware and 5V Arduino systems meant I also hand-soldered interface boards. It was not the most luxurious electronics job, but it let the setups work reliably enough for a teaching lab with a tight turnaround.

Why it mattered

Project notes

Built three full lab setups in a couple of weeks during spare time at work.
Combined PLC logic, collaborative robot control, and custom hardware into one final project.
Used the entertainment value of a bartender to make automation coursework more memorable.