From Haphazard to Waterproof: Revamping Coffee Machines with Ingenuity and Fun!
Introduction
In 2015, I undertook a project with a clear purpose to enhance my coffee consumption experience and share it on social media. The challenge was to create an MQTT broker with multiple publishers and work with DC voltage, all in the pursuit of a better cup of coffee.
The project became an end-to-end solution consisting of hardware elements, an Android application, and a social media plug-in.
It’s fascinating how some great technology inventions have been born out of the desire to improve coffee consumption. For example, the world’s first webcam was created at the University of Cambridge to keep an eye on a coffee pot and determine whether there was coffee in the pot without leaving their desks. This inventive use of technology certainly showcases the impact of coffee on technological innovation.
Technical Part — Software
On the software side, I built an Android Native Java application that could access the state of the coffee machine, had a small database of coffee pot creation, and used the Facebook SDK to create posts every time the coffee was made. Since I was the only application user, designing a practical, informative, and concise UI was fun. I ended up creating only three activity pages.
When using the Facebook SDK back in the day, I had to create additional UI elements to share the news of a fresh pot of coffee created. It also required creating a specific Facebook application that requested the user’s profile access to write new posts on their behalf. It was a popular mechanic often used by social games like Farmville.
For the MQTT broker, I decided to use a light mosquito broker running on a Raspberry Pi used only for some laboratory projects I had going at that time, such as a connected light. In addition to its lightweight nature, MQTT is also great for beginner WiFi projects due to its simplicity and ease of implementation.
Technical Part — Hardware
The hardware consisted of:
- An ESP8266 microcontroller in Wemos D1 mini form factor to provide WIFI communication to the coffee machine.
- Old Coffee Machine
- Relay module for controlling the power of the coffee machine
One of the most significant hurdles in this project was ensuring the proper security of the electrical voltage the relay module could handle, and the potential risk of the ESP8266 getting damaged in the event of a faulty connection.
What would I change now?
Upon reflecting on the project, I realized that the implementation was not up to par as it was done in a rather haphazard and cost-effective manner. However, I envisioned a more robust solution, such as designing a proper case for the hardware components and sealing it with silicon to enhance waterproofing in the event of a coffee spill. Furthermore, I contemplated consolidating the coffee pot database into a single page to allow for easy access to the status of the coffee machine and the details of the last brewed pot. Despite its shortcomings, I thoroughly enjoyed working on this project.
