Mill
In the summer of 2023, I worked at Mill, a VC Backed startup with goals to eliminate waste for good, building hardware product that turns our everyday food scrap into animal feed. During my time there, I focused on validation testing as well as some part redesign.
How It Works
Food is not trash.
The Mill Kitchen Bin dries, shrinks, and de-stinks your kitchen scraps, turning them into chicken feed. It is odorless, bottomless, effortless, and limitless. It is amazing.
Drivetrain Stall Testing
Purpose: Direct stall on the drivetrain to simulate the worst-case loading scenarios
Process: Fixture designed to stall the gears every 2 seconds
Fixture Design Features
Able to stall both forward and backward
Able to set different time intervals (2-5s)
Able to provide stability during testing
Realistic stall to accommodate various durometer rubbers
Results: Broken Threads & Broken Shafts
Testing Fixture
Fixture Overview
Broken Shaft Failure 1
Broken Shaft Failure 1
Broken Shaft Failure 1
Broken Shaft Failure 2
Broken Shaft Failure 2
Broken Mounting Thread Failure
Parts Redesign & More
New bracket to reduce part count; Prototyped in 3D printed metal for antenna testing
Bracket on main body
New Spine Rib Design for Assembly Optimization
New Spine Rib Design Testing
New electronic box to house all electronic components for testing
Script to automatically update BOM; renames PDF to convention and links
Bucket Jam Testing!