How many times have you made a cup of coffee or tea and it’s been too hot to drink, and then by the time you get to it, it’s become too cold? While very much a #firstworldproblem, [ToniTheAxe] decided to fix it — and enter a contest at the same time. He calls it the µCoaster, and essentially, it is a temperature sensing alarm clock.
The coaster uses a TMP006 infrared temperature sensor which measures the temperature of whatever you place on the coaster indirectly. It also doesn’t use much power. He designed the PCBs around this and created a very nice looking coaster that’s powered off of a button cell battery — he thinks it’ll last for around 6 months with daily usage — though that depends on how bad your caffeine addiction is.
To set the coaster, a strip of LED lights show you the temperature in binary (because why not?), and you can set this to whatever you want — well, whatever the maximum an 8 digit LED can display. The device uses capacitive buttons, which adds to the rather slick design aesthetic [Toni] was going for. If you like the idea, he’s entered it in the Silicon Labs low power contest, and he’d love some support.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C4axZB0ewLg
Alternatively, you can hack a coffee maker to keep your fish toasty warm at just the right temperature.
Apparently a watched cup never cools….
I like this saying much more, I have seen way to many beer mashes boil while watched, then boil over.
If it’s in the cup, it’s ready to drink, or it’s too cold. That thing needs a heating element. In winter, I pre-heat my cup with hot water, so the beverage doesn’t cool too quickly.
stick a peltier module between the hot surface and an aluminum base, which will act as a heat sink. use it to recharge the battery