Coffee maker | Hackaday

Monitoring a device with a microcontroller usually follows a well-worn path of diving inside and finding somewhere in the electrical circuitry that can be connected via some sort of interface to a microcontroller. For its Nespresso pod coffee machine, (Steadman) avoided tearing the device and instead opted to monitor the sound it makes. A basic sound threshold sensor board is connected to an Arduino MKR Zero, and this setup logs coffee consumption. Importantly, this generation of Arduino is no longer one of the simple boards of yore, but sports an RTC and SD card alongside its SAMD21 Cortex-M0+ processor, so it’s perfect for such a data logging project. Coffee data can be saved to a spreadsheet-viewable CSV file, for which a code is provided.

We like this project for its noninvasive simplicity, and we can see that there could be many other similar machines that could benefit from an analogous noninvasive monitoring technique. While Hackaday’s pages are full of coffee machine projects, we see surprisingly few pod coffee makers, perhaps because our readers are a savvy bunch who balk at paying a premium for their caffeine. If you own a Nespresso machine, you might like some help identifying the capsules.

Caffeine fuels the hacker, and there are plenty of options for getting it into your system, from gourmet energy drinks to chewing instant coffee tablets. But let’s take a good cup of coffee as a starter, which itself can be prepared in many ways using all sorts of techniques. In its simplest form, you won’t need fancy equipment or even electricity, just heat some water over a fire and add your ground beans to it. This comes in handy if you’re camping in the woods or finding yourself in a post-apocalyptic world, and just in case you still prefer a sleek coffee maker in such a situation, why let an apocalypse ruin beautiful things? – you’re in luck, because (Andreas Herz) designed this nifty looking off-the-grid coffee maker.

The design looks a bit like some high-end precision coffee maker that even fictional billionaires approve of, which (Andreas) created in Fusion 360 and is available online. The base of the device is made of brass, wood and silicone cast from a 3D printed mould, while the glass and ceramic parts – i.e. the water tank and the coffee maker – are simply store bought. (Andreas) opted for gel fuel as the heat source, which burns under a copper coil that acts as a heat exchanger and starts the actual brewing process. It took a few tries to get it right, and in the end a coat of black exhaust paint did the trick to get the temperatures high enough.

It might not be the fastest coffee maker, as you’ll see in the video after the break, but choosing a different fuel source might fix that – (Andreas) just went the quickest route safe using gel fuel here. But hey, why rush things when you’re camping or having a cozy time in a cabin anyway. Now all you need is the right blend, maybe even your own, made with a camping coffee roaster. Of course, in the event of an actual apocalypse, you might not have easy access to a CNC router or 3D printer, but there is always the possibility of building an espresso machine out of salvaged motorcycle parts. .

continue reading “Something is brewing in the woods – and it looks beautiful” →

(Rulof Maker) is a master at making things from salvaged parts, and being an Italian espresso coffee lover, this time he made an espresso machine. The parts in question are a piston and cylinder from an old motorcycle, believe it or not, and parts from an IKEA lamp.

Why the piston and the cylinder? For those unfamiliar with espresso machines, they work by forcing pressurized, almost boiling water through ground coffee. So it puts the water into the piston cylinder and lowers the piston on it, forcing the water out the bottom of the cylinder and through the waiting coffee grounds. The IKEA lamp parts form a base on which the waiting cup can sit.

Of course, he takes great care to clean up burnt oil and gas before he starts. We also like how it centers a lever arm on a U-shaped bolt using two springs. Clever. But see the master in action for yourself in the video below.

continue reading “Espresso machine from motorcycle engine parts” →

To power up and hack hackers, why not hack a coffee maker into a coffee brewing robot? (Carter Hurd) and (David Frank) did just that at the Ohio State 24 Hour OHI/O Hackathon. They even won the “Best Hardware Hack”. The video below shows it in action, but the guys sent us some more details on how it’s made.

Alexa coffee maker robot

electronics

To give it a voice, they put Alexa on a Raspberry Pi. Using an audio splitter, the voice is transmitted to both a speaker and an Arduino. The Arduino then uses the amplitude of the positive values ​​of the audio signal to determine how much to open the “mouth”, the hinged lid of the coffee maker. As is usually the case, there is some lag, but the result is still quite good.

The shuffling is also controlled by the Arduino. They plan to add voice control so they can just ask “Alexa, make me some coffee”, but for now they’ve added a switch on the side to start brewing. This switch tells the Arduino to run one servo to open the lid, another to insert a coffee filter, and two more to pick up coffee from a container and pour it into the filter.

They replaced the coffee maker on/off switch with a relay so that after the Arduino closes the lid, it uses the relay to start the brew. The result is surprisingly human. We particularly like the graceful movement made by the two servos to pick up and empty the coffee. Full disclosure: they admitted that they often either didn’t pick up enough coffee or picked up enough but spilled a bunch on the group.

continue reading “Alexa robot coffee maker brews coffee, speaks for itself” →

Addictions to coffee, crafting, and hacking are bound to spiral out of control. Just like the coffee maker (by Rhys Goodwin). What started as a small project to restore a used coffee machine has resulted in a complete upgrade to state-of-the-art coffee brewing technology.

THE Lady of Brasilia Comes with a 300ml brass boiler, pump and four buttons for power, coffee, hot water and steam. A 3-way AC solenoid valve, wired directly to the knobs, selects one of three functions, while a finicky bi-metal switch keeps the boiler just about between almost there and way too hot.

To reduce temperature variations, (Rhys) decided to add a PID control loop and, along the way, an OLED display as well. He designed a small shield for the Arduino Nano, which interfaces with current hardware via solid-state relays. Two thermocouples measure boiler and group head temperature while a thermal cut-out fuse protects the machine from overheating in the event of a malfunction.

Also lady of the makeup got a complete overhaul, starting with a new powder coating. A sealed enclosure as well as a polished top panel for the OLED display have been machined from aluminum. (Rhys) also added an external water tank that is connected to the machine by shiny, custom tube fittings. Before the water enters the boiler, it passes through a custom pre-heater, to prevent cold water from entering the boiler directly. Not only is the result fantastic, it also offers much more control over the temperature and the amount of water extracted, resulting in the perfect brew every time. Enjoy the video (of Rhys) where he explains his construction:

continue reading “The Brasilia espresso machine’s PID upgrade brews a perfect cup of energy” →

This DIY electric coffee maker prototype uses an assembly of 3D printed parts and cast aluminum. The main objective of (siemenc) with this project was to use and demonstrate recycling and reuse. He used Filabot filament exclusively and melted down scrap aluminum such as cans, foil and CNC factory scrap in a furnace he made from an old fire extinguisher. He also cast the aluminum parts himself from 3D printed positives.

Of course, he had to buy the parts that make it a coffee maker, such as the hoses, the fuse, and the heating element. If you’re wondering why he didn’t salvage those parts from garage sale machines, it’s because he wanted to be able to replace any part and make it last as long as he needs it. The innards he used aren’t specific to any model, so he should be able to easily find a replacement.

Much like a pouring facility, (siemenc) has precise control over the strength and amount of the infusion. We particularly like the exotic bird look of this machine; it may be a prototype, but it’s quite elegant. If you’re looking to go all the way with home-brewed coffee, why not grow your own beans and then roast them yourself?

This hack makes your Keurig experience completely automatic. For those who do not know the equipment: this type of coffee maker includes a water tank. Coffee is brewed one cup at a time by drawing in this water, rapidly heating it, then forcing it through disposable pods containing coffee grounds and a filter. It takes the user-friendly design one step further by automatically keeping the water full.

This goes beyond the last water tank hack we saw. This routed a water line to the machine, but included a manually operated valve. (Eod_punk) added solenoid valve and level sensor in this project. The level sensor is immersed in the tank and is monitored by a Basic Stamp microcontroller. When the level is low, BS1 drives the solenoid through a transistor, letting the water flow out. All of this is shown in the video below.

continue reading “Keurig Hack now automatically fills the water tank” →