The idea behind this project is lovely: a machine made of wood and moss that prepares three types of tea. Samuel Gidoin started from scratch in 2018 and spent four years developing it, and the finished piece carries a gothic fantasy look inspired by Rivendell and other fantasy artworks.
Structurally, it is mostly laser-cut plywood, with roughly 1,000 parts modeled in CAD and the internal components 3D printed. An Arduino Mega drives everything, fed by a 220v input, and the crane runs on a Nema17 stepper with a TMC2208 driver under the AccelStepper library. Assembly involved numerous motors, pumps, and sensors, and several versions of every module were tested to ensure reliable operation.
The details are what stand out to me. There is a moss-covered base with three tea dispensers, and a crane-like mechanism holds a metal tea ball over a rotating mug platform. A rack on the front holds six small metal cups, the three tea choices are marked with runes, and visible gears and linkages sit under warm backlighting. The screen reports preheating temperature, pouring flow rate and volume, and an infusing countdown, while a secret settings screen hides behind a magnetic front panel. A strain gauge under the moving platform weighs the dropped tea, and settings like temperature and infusion time are customizable per tea. The water tank, taken from a commercial coffee machine, is detachable, as is a rack holding multiple tea balls.
The maker combined a crane with three aligned tea boxes first, then designed everything else around them, so technical needs drove the layout and dimensions. One open issue: a stutter at the middle of the crane rotation has not yet been fixed, and small adjustments are still needed to limit splashes of tea and water.
Project by Samuel Gidoin. Watch it on their YouTube channel: