Creative agency Deeplocal arrived at this year’s Google I/O to showcase the Mocktails Mixer, a robotic bartender capable of making mocktails and mixed drinks that also features support for the Google Assistant. While the device was introduced at the latest iteration of Google’s developer conference, its creators point out that the Mocktails Mixer isn’t heavily affiliated with Google. Even though it can accept commands from Google’s artificial intelligence (AI) companion, the creation itself is a proprietary unit that Deeplocal decided to build, demo, and open-source. Anyone interested in the curious invention can thus make it on their own if they’re willing to invest some time and money into the project, the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania-based company said.
Apart from the Google Assistant software development kit (SDK), tinkerers looking to create their very own Mocktails Mixer will need a relatively basic set of house tools, a soldering iron, and a laser cutter. Deeplocal’s prototype cost around $570, the company said, adding that the final price could be brought down if users are willing to build the robotic bartender with cheaper materials. However, all of the materials that come into contact with liquids that the Mocktails Mixer uses to make drinks should be rated as “food safe.” The creation also makes use of one Raspberry Pi and a microphone, as well as a speaker, LED Ring, and a peristaltic pump. Actions on Google allow users to program the Mocktails Mixer to follow any mixed drink recipe they desire as they can simply modify their ingredients and their names and ratios in the code of the software running on the device. The API.AI can be used for creating a conversational interface for the Mocktails Mixer and injecting some personality into the device, Deeplocal explains.
The device is equipped with eight containers and hence supports up to eight ingredients. The full source code powering this curious creation is available on GitHub, while its design is modular in nature and allows users a large degree of control over the specific capabilities of their homemade Mocktails Mixer. Refer to the video and gallery below to see how the Mocktails Mixer looks and works in practice and follow the source link beneath this writing for detailed instructions on how to build your own robotic bartender.
