A Cookie Launcher Perfect for the Very Lazy

You know those big metal tins that your grandma uses to store sewing needles and random unidentified screws? Some of them actually contain cookies. But opening the tin to get at the sugary morsels is a pain in the hands. To make his holiday gingerbread feasting more accessible, The Skjegg built this cookie launcher.

This is exactly what it sounds like: a contraption for launching cookies skyward, where hungry people can snatch them without prying the lid off the tin. The launch triggers with a voice command for effortless cookie consumption. And in a pinch, it could probably be used to distract prowling polar bears.

The Skjegg hid all of the working bits inside the tin, so that looks mostly normal if you ignore the trapdoor on top. The working bits include a radial magazine mechanism, which drops the next preloaded cookie into the catapult. The catapult is spring-loaded, with a DC motor to retract the spring. Another DC motor rotates the magazine using an optical sensor for positional encoding and a servo motor opens the trap door.

That all operates under the control of a Seeed Studio XIAO SAMD21 development board, with a DFRobot Gravity Voice Recognition Module for the voice control. Sadly, the module The Skjegg had seemed to have some kind of bug that caused it to fail after a while. So, he also added a button for emergency cookie situations.

Now The Skjegg can command an incoming cookie volley whenever he feels peckish this holiday season.