permanently moved to codeberg/janam/foxtruder

foxtruder

froggy, fog-o-nozzle, multimist, foxtruder [working title] is a tiny fog machine powered by USB-PD, with Wifi and Bluetooth, based around a 3D-printer heat-cartridge and nozzle. As much as I wish to call this the worlds smallest intentional fog machine, sadly disposable vapes exist. Otherwise this one would be atop of the smaller fog-machines. To make it this small however, it requires an external pump, or rather a pressurized fog-fluid line, which can be connected to the 4mm pneumatic connector at the bottom. The idea here is to just have one fog-juice reservoir and pump for many fog machines. A valve on the board is used to switch the fog.

• Size: 70x70x35mm
• Power-In: 12-24V DC, USB-PD
• Communication: RS485, DMX, WIFI, BLE, USB (Python Shell)
• Indication: 4 Status LEDs, 5 Effect LEDs
• IO: RS485, External IO, 2 Buttons, 4mm pneumatic push connector (fluid in), Fan Connector, I2C

Now, you might ask why?? To be clear, this is a stupid idea, an intrusive thought turned reality if you will, I'm not even sure if I can recommend you to replicate this. However, the tiny size combined with the low cost per machine of ~20-40€ makes this perfect for larger art-installations requiring fog. Or even better use the fog as the medium of visual art. I.e. in an array, linear arrangement, circular fashion or just many small distributed points of fog generation.

I guess this exists now, enjoy?.

State of this project and learnings

It is not recommended to replicate this project in its current form, it is more of an experiment than a proper fog machine. Issues to be solved include but are not limited to:

• Spitting, the fog machine tends to not convert all fog-juice into fog
• BOM cost, it should be optimized
• Mechanical complexity, the valve-hotend interface requires some odd machining
• Assembly complexity is too high
• Open health questions, it seems that fog-juice may be unhealthy when heated above 190°C, however for a proper, spit-free operation temperatures well above 250-300°C might be desired (as with commercial fog machines)

FAQ

Can this be run off a MacBooks USB-PD port?

Yes, that was the main mean of development.

Initial block diagram

This needs updating, but this was the initial idea. The fog-juice tank is an external component now and the additional airflow controller to disturb the fog has not been implemented yet. Otherwise this is fairly true to foxtruder. The fog-juice tank is a real thing and has an input for pressurized air and an outlet for the liquid.

On the name

Finding a name for this project was surprisingly complicated, we just included all names we came up with. The initial idea was to "paint it green and call it froggy", like a foggy small frog sitting in the morning mist of a luscious lawn. Then we went towards focussing on the nozzle, the snoot and eventually we arrived at foxtruder, just... don't boop it, it will bite.