Arduino-Controlled Espresso Machine Rivals Way More Expensive Models

Arduino-Controlled Espresso Machine Rivals Way More Expensive Models:

Engineers plus coffee equals cheap, good espresso machines

Man, do nerds love their coffee. How else do you explain that a robot-controlled espresso machine blew through its Kickstarter target by a crazy 16X? Coffee-loving engineers Gleb Polyakov and Igor Zamlinsky wanted a mere $20,000 for their project, and with just hours to go until the deadline, they have almost a third of a million dollars in pledges.

The promise of the “PID-Controlled Espresso Machine” (clearly named by engineers) is a $400 machine that delivers the results of a $700+ machine. To get good espresso, say the team, you need constant pressure and a constant temperature throughout the pull. Only then do you get the thick crema, the jasmine notes and the frankly spectacular taste of a great espresso.

The problem is that this kind of control is expensive. Usually. By redesigning the espresso machine from scratch, and using off-the-shelf components wherever possible, the price is kept low, the quality high and the machine should be quite user-serviceable. It even works with those environmentally disastrous coffee pods.

The heart of the machine is a redesigned thermoblock, which heats fast and keeps the temperature constant. The other innovation is the PID controller which uses feedback loops to adjust for error. In this case, it adjusts for fluctuations in temperature and pressure as the shot is pulled. The whole lot is controlled by everyone’s favorite robot brain, the Arduino. Both hardware and software will be open source.

The machine is all-metal, both for longevity and to stop it from sliding across the countertop. The designers have schlepped their prototypes around their local coffee shops for the baristas to compare the machine with their own. It comes out even every time.

There may be another reason that this $400 machine received so many pledges that the first wave is now “sold out”: The minimum pledge was just $200. I wish I’d got in sooner.

A Product Design project in Atlanta, GA by Gleb Polyakov and Igor Zamlinsky [Kickstarter via Venture Beat]