Today has been focusing around detailing the essential parts for the MVP.
Designing the concept and detailing the geometry requirements has been the one of the tasks for Aksel, Ruben and Sebastian this Tuesday
The mixing chamber has a lot of requirements and is one of the essential parts of the apparatus. This is the most frequently used part of the machine, thus it has to afford easy use.
The vision: the user can at any point easily pull out the chamber and pour out the desired amount of sourdough and place it back. The entire thing is easy to wash and easy to know dose and keep the minimum amount of dough in the container.
The mixing is done by turning the dough hook axle between -45 to 45 degrees, and potentially higher as the dough increases in size, thereby saving energy whilst mixing the entire dough.
The dough mixer
The shaft easily snaps into the container and can only face one way; it can however sit whatever way in the container. We chose this as it allows the user to have the handle in whichever side that fits their kitchen, whilst only being insertable that way.
As the dough hook is always in the container, thus making it easy to clean the entire container; even though it’s hopefully an uncommon event.
If the user wishes to mix the sourdough further then they are able to by turning the dough hook axle with their hands.
When removing dough there are several options depending on the dough consistency. If the dough is very liquid, then it can be poured using the containers designated pouring tip.
If the dough has gotten a high viscousity it can be desirable to use a spoon or whatever other tool. In this case can snap it out the axle and lay it in the creaveses on the left side of container, whilst keeping the hooks submerged. This avoids spillage when removing dough and even keeps them in whilst pouring.
The sourdough container
The container will consists of a somewhat halfcircle with a round foot, a pouring tip in the one side, snap fit ‘bearings’ for the dough mixer and a handle. On both sides are there measurements, displaying a minimum amount of sour dough to keep and mL/dL. The round foot is also used for guiding the container using a simple channel system. This is to ensure a smooth connection between the dough mixing axle and the motor.
The exact geometry of the dough hooks is yet to be determined, we have had one prototype was not suitable for high viscosity doughs, it wasn’t too pretty either. Therefore have Aksel and Ruben created a prototype which will be tested tomorrow hopefully with the stepper motor. Early tests were conducted turning the dough mixer manually, which is not as representative of the real world as is desirable. This stage might be pushed later into the project as it is easier to optimize when the MVP is done.
Chindogu 