PancakeBot, Pancake Printer Debuts at Maker Faire

Every kid loves pancakes, especially when they are able to drown them in maple syrup and sprinkle some powder sugar on top. There are probably very few foods that get the respect of a child’s taste buds, like that of pancakes. This creation however, may take the cake (or should I say ‘pancake’). What if your kids had the ability to pick any object and have a pancake printed in its likeness? That’s just what the PancakeBot does.

The open source PancakeBot, was initially created by a man named Miguel Valenzuela, using a Lego set in 2010. This was after the begging of his 3 year old daughter. Today, the latest version of the machine will be unveiled at the Bay Area Maker Faire. Unlike the original, this one features an acrylic body. It also uses a couple of Adafruit motor shields, and an Arduino Mega board for the brain. The latest version does not use Legos, as you can see in the image below.

With 3D printing taking the world by storm, this in essence is a 3D printer of pancakes. Having said that, the printer only moves in two dimensions, along an X and Y axis. However, the batter coming out of the extruder is not flat like ink would be on paper. Whether this is technically a 3D printer or not, doesn’t matter much. All that matters here is how incredible a pancake of the Eiffel Tower looks and tastes after it’s been printed and cooked.

There are no plans to commercialize the PancakeBot just yet, however one would guess that if priced right, there could be a substantial market for such a machine. What do you think? Would you consider buying one of these if they are affordably priced? Let us know at the PancakeBot forum thread on 3DPB.com Check out the video below of the PancakeBot printing out an Eiffel Tower pancake.

Here is another video created by Miguel Valenzuela, along with his two daughters Lily and Maia. It’s titled ‘Breakfast Gallup.” The video was made with only breakfast food, and took 7 days, and 50 pancakes to create.