A4C on my own | Coffee Capsule Recycling Cap Build Log (in progress..)

= A4C on my own Project Vol. 1. Building a capsule recycling cap =
Subtitle. Have you tried capsule coffee?! Insanely good! Argh, that's the trouble.. our Earth, ugh.
 
The handle on the hand mill I had been using was worn down, so I tried to replace just the handle.. but it wasn't easy to find a value-for-money part. Then capsule coffee caught my eye. "How good can it really be?" — with that prejudice? — I kept putting it off.. until I got completely hooked by a YouTube video..  
What?! Thanks to the YouTube wave, I bought, on Karrot Market, the capsule coffee machine that, finally, everyone supposedly has.
 

Pop. Pssht — pop.  Press, ... whirr~ trickle.. The very moment I drank that first cup,
I was stunned by the taste,
got hooked on the convenience,
and now I'm brewing and drinking every single day. 
And then suddenly this thought hit me..  "Oh, the Earth. We're screwed."
 


In the bean coffee market, not only Ediya.. even Kanu has gone beyond capsule coffee and entered the capsule coffee machine market, running TV ads about it. That shows just how mainstream it has become. Even searching on Google, the capsule coffee market is growing globally day by day.
The problem is that, even when you make up your mind to recycle, capsule coffee is incredibly hard to recycle properly. To make it worse — or maybe ironic — even when you carefully separate the capsule from the coffee grounds, there's no dedicated aluminum recycling bin in many places, so you end up wondering and tossing it into the scrap-metal pile.

Of course, reusable steel capsules for capsule coffee are sold (Domestic — Coupang, Overseas — Alibaba) but... yikes.. with overseas shipping, a single capsule, even on sale, is around 11,000 KRW, and the domestic one is 27,900 KRW.. Really.. what irony! The very items that should be cheap are being sold this expensively. The catch is that one capsule alone is hard to actually use day-to-day. You need at least three to use them in daily life, and of course buying coffee beans is on top of that. If it's going to be like this, grabbing a tumbler and going to a nearby cafe to buy coffee seems much better, both for personal health and for social co-existence... ah.. that was way too much TMI. Coming back, 
These days, when you go to libraries, there are a few 3D printers and laser cutters (engravers), and they hold free classes and exhibitions.. so I started thinking — what if I just made a free modeling file and scattered it around like open source in places like that? So,, in my spare moments, I'm designing a model that lets you easily separate and recycle capsules.
 
For reference, the prototype is planned to consist of Season SE 4.

Prototype SE1. Press to flip

[ Prototype SE1. Round 01 ] 1. Overview: Place the capsule on the bottom part, cap it from above, and twist — a method that removes only the capsule's lid (aluminum cover).    2. Review: Still falls quite short 1) Modeling: Still clumsy with the tool. The tolerance is too small, so it doesn't assemble well.   2) Usability: Removing the lid (aluminum cover) by rotation is harder than expected.  Will have to consider a punch instead of rotation.  3. Achievement: First prototype

[ Prototype SE1. Round 02 ] 1. Overview: I bought a circular saw bit (hole cutter) and tried using it, but the resistance of the aluminum cover was bigger than expected? — the lid wouldn't come off easily. I'll try the push-type interface used by existing products and look for improvements while using it.  2. Result: Still lacking  1) Modeling: Got a slightly better feel for the tool. Since it's a free tool, judging size was hard, but using the translucent feature improved accuracy. 2) Usability: The push method is far easier to use. However, this interface already exists as a commercial product, so a differentiator is needed, and the biggest drawback is that it cannot handle plastic capsules. In reality, plastic capsules have the lowest recycling rate (under 10% globally on average).  3) Extensibility: Built it as a modular form so the top (head) character section can be swapped for various designs.  3. Achievement: Discovered a new maker support center. Confirmed related support programs.

[ Prototype SE1. Round 03 ] 1. Overview: 1) Added character module. 2) Detail improvements for emptying coffee grounds and flipping aluminum more cleanly.  2. Output: After confirming round-2 results, immediately began modeling revisions for the round-3 print. Once done, I re-booked a print at the smart factory. Currently waiting after submitting the reservation..

 
If there are no major issues with this 3rd print.. I plan to share the modeling source as a CBT through GitHub, Notion, blog, etc.I'll try.
 
 
A4C Season 1. 3D print stl file basic module:  https://github.com/normalstory/act-for-change

By the way, GitHub supports web previews for stl files.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Photo: Unsplash's Dex Ezekiel
Anywhere, anytime, the master never peels right away.
After the front kick comes the roundhouse kick. 
In English, something like, Would you? Could you?..? lol
And so..  someday.. coming~ soon! .. that's the plan 
Prototype SE2. Twist-peel


 

 






 
 

Prologue or Epilogue
There's a startup that, frankly, is far too old to still be called a startup. Even though it has been around for a long time, it doesn't feel cliched or worn — it has remained raw as it is. And what struck me as cool is that, instead of slogans, they've kept up consistent action — so I'm sharing it. They're called Act for Change! While I'm at it, I'm shouting my own slogan, A4C on my own. Hehe.  
https://www.toun28.com/mission