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IoTea: An internet-connected tea machine

TUTORIAL

IoTea: An internet-

connected tea machine

time to pump a

cupful of water. A

relay then controls the kettle (the

kettle switch must be already pressed

down so that when the relay fires, the kettle turns

on). Lastly, a small solenoid valve fitted to the side of

the kettle opens to dispense the water into a waiting

cup, with teabag. You have to add your own milk and

sugar, but it’s only 2018.

Once you’ve got all your components, the first

step is to test your valve, and work out which way

round it should go – solenoid valves typically work in

one direction only. The easiest way to test this is by

blowing through the valve and seeing if air comes out

the other end, or alternatively pouring a little water in

it. Hook it up to a (usually) 12 V power supply to open

the valve and try blowing/pouring again.

ea is a favourite

drink among those who lovingly

put together HackSpace magazine

• but these life-saving cuppas
  don’t make themselves. We have
  to literally use our hands and arms to
  make ourselves a nice cup of tea manually after a
  hard day’s work – a Luddite injustice that feels as
  though it should be solved, in this new millennium
  of self-driving cars, AI-driven heating systems, and
  flashing computerised bobble hats. This project uses
  a Raspberry Pi Zero W as the brains behind a simple
  system to make the perfect cuppa just as soon as
  you say ‘OK, Google’.
  The system we’ve put together here uses a normal
  electric kettle, which is filled by a small peristaltic
  liquid pump, turned on for just the right amount of

T

Above

The finished

product looks like

something Professor

Branestawm might’ve

come up with, but it

makes a tasty cuppa!

Archie Roques

By day a humble A level

student, by night a

hardware engineer,

Norwich Hackspacer,

and general projects

man. Also blogs at

roques.xyz.

@archieroques

Build a beverage-making robot that’ll make you a cuppa on command

This project involves

mains electricity and

boiling water.

Make sure you

know how to

handle these safely

before starting.

WARNING!