What it does:
Coffee in the morning is pretty much a must in today's fast paced world, but although it may be the most enjoyable part of our morning routines, that doesn't mean that it should be the only one. Enter the Toothbrush Activated Coffee Maker (TACM). While anyone can set a timer and have their coffee maker begin brewing at a set time, the TACM encourages a healthy and hygienic morning routine by connecting the brushing of teeth to that cup of black magic that makes waking up oh so much easier to do. While we acknowledge that it is possible to fool the TACM by simply moving and replacing your toothbrush, we hope that the mere act of picking up and interacting with a toothbrush each morning will be enough to convince most people to use it. Afterall, a mouth is a terrible thing to waste!
How it Works:
The driving forces behind the TACM are the Particle Photon and the PIR Motion Sensor. The PIR sensor is able to detect the motion of the toothbrush, and upon doing so emits a high (3.3 Volt) digital signal. This signal is recorded by one of the digital input pins on a Photon. The Photon is programmed to publish an event to the cloud over its local Wi-Fi network, and thus the internet now knows that somewhere, somehow, a toothbrush has been moved.
That's where the coffee making half of the TACM comes in. A second Particle Photon is programmed to react to the event published by the first. Upon acknowledging the event, the second Photon outputs a high (3.3 Volt) digital signal from one of its digital output pins. This is signal is wired to the control input of a relay that is capable of controlling the full voltage of a household wall outlet, and is placed in series with the power supply of an ordinary household coffee machine. When current flows to the from the digital output pin it activates the relay, which then allows current from the wall outlet to flow into the coffee machine, thus beginning the brew cycle. The brew cycle is set to last for a fixed duration using the internal coding in the second Photon, during which time it will not respond to any additional events published by the first Photon, after which it will automatically shut down until prompted by another event.
Also included in the second photon circuit and code is a temperature sensor. A DS18B20 waterproof sensor can be placed inside the coffee pot to monitor the temperature of the brew. Temperature readings are then transmitted back to the photon and published as an event to the cloud. An 'If This Then That' (IFTTT) applet was created to log the temperature, date, and time data in a spreadsheet whenever a temperature event is published.
IFTT:
Temperature Data Analysis:
Circuit Pictures:
Video:
Of course, none of those graphs and explanations would matter if the TACM wasn't able to actually brew a cup of coffee, and so we present below, for your viewing pleasure, a brief demonstration of the device in action.









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