“This project was created purely out of love for coffee and robots.”
Whether it’s a home-brewed pot or a skinny frappa-thingy at a nearby shop, coffee has surely become the unofficial technology behind engineers for years. While the modern method of drip brewing is more than 125 years old, its overall design has changed very little over time. From percolators and pourovers to French presses and single-serve devices, innovators have sought out new and improved ways to brew their daily dose of caffeine. And, well, Maker Elias Bakken has attempted to defy convention with a 3D printing coffee machine he calls the Debrew.
While the hand-brew dipper coffeemaker is more than a 3D printer in the traditional sense of the word, the Delta-style apparatus runs on G-code and is capable of devising the perfect cup ‘o joe every single time. Say goodbye to mix-ups or burnt pots at your local Dunkin’ Donuts!
Stepper motors are responsible for controlling the water flow rate, the grind coarseness and the positions of the tube above the filter, while 3DPrint.com notes that the “machine looks eerily similar to any Delta-style 3D printer that you will come across.”
Debrew features both a pre-soak and extraction process that can be visualized and modified using an online interface that the Maker has developed himself. The web app includes drag-and-drop functionality, and allows for the creating, editing and selecting of pre-defined coffee profiles. Bakken tells 3DPrint.com that the interface uses a number of commands like “wait 2 seconds,” “select water,” and “set coffee bean coarseness.” Each of these operations can be configured so that upon pressing “play,” they will be automatically converted into G-code and then relayed to the Debrew machine. In addition, recipes can be shared in the same manner as STL models are throughout the 3D printing community.
”That way, similar but differently implemented coffee bots can still interpret the recipes,” the Maker explains.
Rather than having to open up an interface on a web browser each time the urge for coffee calls, Bakken has equipped his contraption with his recently-launched Kickstarter project Manga Screen. The high-definition, 4.3” capacitive multi-touch screen — which is based on an ATmega16U4 and powered by a mXT224 controller — is mounted onto the front of the Debrew and enables users to easily select a their preferred warm beverage.
Did this project ‘perk’ your interest? You can learn all about the project here.
Atmel | Bits & Pieces 
Reblogged this on Brian By Experience.
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