Maker Tomasz created an automated washing up liquid squirter to reduce waste and faff when you’re juggling slippery crockery with soapy hands.
If you were watching TV adverts in the UK in the 1990s, you’ll no doubt remember a certain brand with a baby for a mascot insisting you only need the tiniest of squirts of washing up liquid to get an entire sink’s worth done. I was drawn to this build to find out whether my fear of over-pouring the precious green liquid has been resolved by technology I’ve lived long enough to exist alongside.
Hardware
- Raspberry Pi Pico
- 12V DC peristaltic pump
- Ultrasonic distance sensor
- Motor driver
- Power supply
How does it work?
The ultrasonic sensor picks up when someone comes towards the washing up dispenser and the Pico reads the distance. When the washer-upper gets within a set range, the Pico activates the motor driver which then powers the pump for 0.5 seconds — the perfect amount of time to squeeze just enough washing up liquid through the tube. The washer-upper is in charge of holding their own sponge in the right place but we’re all adults here so we should be fine.
Find more Mellow Labs projects
Tomasz is the maker behind this build and the Mellow Labs YouTube channel. If you’re into programming and electrical projects, subscribe and tell people you were in on the ground floor and knew Tomasz before he hit it big. The channel hasn’t been going long but it already features mega builds such as a PlayStation converted into a Battle Bot and something billed as “The Ultimate Fart Solution”.
While Tomasz of Mellow Labs was the creator of this project, we wouldn’t have found it without Electromaker pointing at it on Twitter. Electromaker are everywhere but we particularly like their roaming interviews at trade shows and maker events. Also, they create actually useful content on TikTok that I understand, so that’s much appreciated. Keep up with them on whichever medium you surf: electromaker.io | YouTube | Podcast | Shop | TikTok
