This is a chocolate injection-molding machine that my team and I created for 2.70 - "Precision Product Design".  The machine was to be developed under a time-constraint of approximately 3 months and a budget of $500.

First, we determined what our quantitative functional requirements were for the machine. 1st-order analysis was done at several stages to inform our designs.

Using Bernoulli's Principle, we first determined the injection pressure and clamping force required to mold a pre-determined volume of chocolate. This informed our mold attachment & clamping mechanisms, as well as our plunger-driven barrel.

Thermal power calculations led us to design a coupled mechanism for stirring & melting chocolate in the hopper.

Simulations were done in SolidWorks in order to verify our initial calculations and design choices. 

Processes & Tools Used:

Manual Lathe • CNC & Manual Mill • Waterjet • 3D Printing • CAD/CAM