Okay, so I stumbled upon this “Midas Vending Machine” thing and, let me tell you, it was a wild ride. I mean, a vending machine that dispenses gold? Sounds crazy, right? But I had to see it for myself, or at least, figure out how it is made, even a mock-up.
First, I did some digging. Found out that this machine dispenses the gold, various sizes and the prices are even dynamically updated, that is some serious high-tech stuff, so I decided to craft a simple mock-up just for an experimental experience.
The Mock-up Build
I started with the basics. I grabbed a cardboard box – a big one, because this machine is supposed to be impressive. I cut a slot for dispensing, and a few smaller slots for where the “buttons” would go.
Next, I needed something to represent the gold. I didn’t have any actual gold bars lying around (shocking, I know), so I used some yellow-painted wooden blocks, and I also have prepared some printed fake golden coins. I figured different shapes and sizes would make it seem more realistic, like the real machine.
For the “screen” that shows the prices, I simply printed out a sheet of paper with some made-up prices. I made sure to change the numbers every now and then to mimic that dynamic pricing feature I read about.
- Cardboard Box: The main body of the vending machine.
- Wooden Blocks (painted yellow): Representing gold bars.
- Printed Paper: Displaying “dynamic” gold prices.
- Crafting Knives: Used for the cutting.
I stuck the “price list” on the box, arranged the wooden blocks inside so they’d fall out of the slot easily, and labeled the “buttons” with things like “1 gram,” “5 grams,” and “10 grams”. Just to make it look somewhat like a real machine.
Then came the fun part – “testing” it. I pretended to press the buttons, then manually pushed a gold block out of the slot. Voila! Gold dispensed! Okay, it wasn’t exactly high-tech, but it gave me a good laugh and a better understanding of how that gold is actually dispensed from a layout perspective.
Honestly, the whole process was more about having a bit of creative fun than building a functional prototype. But it did make me appreciate the engineering behind the real Midas Vending Machine. It’s one thing to read about it, and another to imagine the mechanics involved, even in a super simplified way.
Maybe one day I’ll try to build a more advanced version, perhaps with some simple electronics. But for now, my cardboard-and-wood creation is a good enough reminder of this strangely fascinating machine.
