ME 370 · 4-person team · Fall 2025

Dispensing
Walker Design

A top-loaded gum dispenser and a walking mechanism, driven by a single motor.

Fusion 360 render of the full walker assembly: clear acrylic chassis, the blue Scotch-yoke dispenser drive on top, gear train and motor below, and the four legs.
Fig. 1: Assembly layout, Fusion 360 render.
Team
4 people
My role
Dispenser, assembly & testing
Dispensed
5 packs

Brief

Build a walking machine that also dispenses payload at a set interval along its path, with the whole system driven by one motor. The target was a pack of gum every 2 m.

Dispenser

Our team designed the dispensing mechanism: a rotating Scotch-yoke that converts the drive shaft's rotation into the straight-line stroke of a pusher. Five packs of gum sit in a top-fed hopper, and each full rotation drives the pusher forward to release the pack at the bottom of the stack, then withdraws it so the next pack can drop into place.

CRANK DISC SLOTTED YOKE PUSHER HOPPER PACK OUT
Fig. 2: The blue pin on the rotating crank disc runs in the yoke slot, turning rotation into the pusher’s straight-line stroke.

Single-motor drive

One motor drives both systems through separate gearing. Bevel gears provide the initial reduction and torque for the walking linkages, while a roughly 20:1 worm-gear reduction slows the dispenser cycle so packs are released at intervals close to the 2 m target.

The completed ME 370 dispensing walker: a clear acrylic four-legged chassis with the blue Scotch-yoke dispenser and gum hopper on top, driven by a single motor through the gear train below.
Fig. 3: The built walker.

Problems solved

Two issues showed up once it ran. Mechanical binding in the linkages was resolved with spacers that corrected the alignment, and vibration was working fasteners loose after a run, which threadlocker fixed. Passive supports were then refined until the walking gait smoothed out, without letting them interfere with the linkages.

Validation

The finished system dispensed all five packs at an average spacing of about 1.78 m against the 2 m target, earning 9.5/10 on mechanical design and full marks on speed.

Tools

Fusion 360 3D Printing Laser Cutting Hand Fabrication Mechanical Testing