Coffeenator
Like many other humans, I like need coffee. I’m not especially fancy about my coffee… I just… like need it. I always got frustrated by the daily routine of filling up the coffee pot and dumping it in the tank. The minor annoyance got me thinking: How can I overengineer a solution to this problem?
The answer was simple. Run a water line to the tank and make an electronic way to control the flow of water into the tank. The solution boils down to the following components:
- A custom circuit board that holds an ESP32 as the “brain” of the operation
- A solenoid that can open and close a standard water line
- A float that shorts to ground when the tank is full
- A wall plate that holds the power button and the “fill the tank” button
The logic is pretty simple. If the float is not shorted and the button is pressed, the solenoid is opened allowing water to start filling the tank and the halo around the button lights up. Once the float is shorted, the solenoid is closed. There is a timeout feature that will close the solenoid in case the float fails as well as a feedback blink of the button if you press it while the tank is already full.
