Smart coaster

Apparently I am a "nekojita," (Japanese for a person who can't handle hot food). Cats don't like high temperature food (they say), so a person who doesn't fancy molten bits in their mouth is called nekojita (cat tongue).

With a learning sensor from http://www.aniomagic.com/learning_sensors.php Aniomagic, I built a smart coaster that can monitor the temperature of my drink: green means it's just right, red means it's way too hot, and white means I'll need to heat it up again.

Video here: http://www.aniomagic.com/examples/example10/example10.mp4
(or here http://www.aniomagic.com/examples/example10/example10.wmv )

The wonderful thing about the learning sensor is that I don't have to hook it up to a computer to reprogram it. If I wanted to monitor (say) a cold drink, I can recalibrate it by tilting the coaster, which activates the tilt switch.

The coaster goes to sleep after 30 minutes, and wakes up when picked up. (next: a version powered by heat from the drink)

Disclaimer: We make and sell some of the materials on our website.

Step 1: Ingredients

- a temperature learning sensor from http://www.aniomagic.com/learning_sensors.php
- red surface mount LED (digikey part# 67-1695-1-ND)
- green surface mount LED (digikey part# 67-1357-2-ND)
- white surface mount LED (digikey part# 160-1737-1-ND)
- tilt switch (mouser part# 107-2006-EV)
- large battery (CR2032)
- plastic battery holder

You'll also need
- some acrylic (or something similar)
- a soldering iron
- wire-wrap wire
- a laser cutter (lucky us :-)

Comments

[Wasagi]

Neat! five stars!

[ReCreate]

Now one for plates,I rarely drink anything above 70 degrees. But i do,However,Eat Food above 70 degrees. There should be like a probe,You stab it into your food,In this case,Lasagna,And it tells you if it is too cold,getting cold,Or too Hot. That would Solve all of my burned tongues.

[DemonDomen]

Maybe I'll do something like that. Just need to find a nice box to put it in.

[ReCreate]

Project Box, Maybe a 9V battery Casing?

[aniomagic]

That happens to me too! Especially pasta with fillings like raviolli... happens more often than I'd like. I'm thinking like the meat thermometers...

[ReCreate]

Raviolli? I don't think they heat that up too much,but what about something for pizzas,Like a little sheet you put under it to tell if it is(Warm,cold,hot,lava)Ish,That would Solve all the tomato sauce and cheese stains on the floor

[aniomagic]

I think this would also work great. You'd probably need several sensors on a large sheet: "the pizza slice on the top left is still too hot... try the one on the right" :-) Now if only it didn't need a battery, I'd be all set. There might already be an easier way to do this with thermachromic paints or something...

[ReCreate]

Thermal Thingies? They generate electricity when exposed to heat

[erosser]

It would be awesome to have this built into a traveling mug--I always burn my mouth because the only way of really testing it is drinking out of that little hole... Perhaps putting a probe in-between the outer insulation and the inner cup? Very nice work, and extremely sleek! Looks like Apple should sell it...;) A constructive suggestion: captions on the pictures that tell what's going on would be very helpful.

[aniomagic]

I agree! It might be sufficient to put the sensor in the cap itself, close to the hole. This assumes that the temperature in the air in the flask would correspond closely enough with the liquid temperature... Thanks for your comments and suggestions.

[Bongmaster]

nice idea :)

[Berserk87]

nice guide. i planned on making something like this eventually, but have been toying with other projects.