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Build Your Own Wireless Beer Pitcher Monitoring System

Posted by michael on from the friday-night-build-your-own-series-continues dept.

Willy K. writes "Technology comes to the rescue when disaster strikes and your pitcher runneth dry. These Cornell students have rigged up beer pitchers that wirelessly advertise to the central serving station when they are empty, prompting alert wait staff to bring another round." Add a few steins and you're all set.

6 of 184 comments (clear)

  1. Overkill? by MBCook · · Score: 4, Interesting
    It's interesting and all, but isn't it overkill? I mean they are using an accelerometer! Couldn't a simple CDS photocell detect when the thing is empty based on the ammount of light filtering through what's left of the beer? Seems like it would be simple to calibrate. Just take one, fill it up with the maximim ammount of beer before a refill is called for (since you may have a tiny bit left when it's still "empty"). Set it on a table and press a button, it's callibrated. Even a simple mercury switch could probably be set up to do this reliably without needing an accelerometer. And if you were willing to permantly modify the container, you could do more like a small float, tiny bits of metal on the side so you could use conductivity to figure it out, a pressure sensor (beer weighs more than air), etc.

    I'm not denying that their idea works, it just seems there is probably an easier (or at least cheaper) way.

    --
    Comment forecast: Bits of genius surrounded by a sea of mediocrity.
    1. Re:Overkill? by randyest · · Score: 2, Interesting

      I disagree; it's underkill.

      They had a 2D accelerometer that could measure in X and Y directions, but used a pitcher to force a given plane of tilt (determined by the handle/spout axis) and just looked at the X reading, ignoring Y.

      They should use both measurements and put it on regular drinking glasses as well -- the same device would work on a pitcher, glass, or most drinking containers no matter what orientation (within the X-Y, or horizontal plane) it was mounted. Their system needs the "X" axis of the accelerometer to be parallel with the line connecting the handle and spout. And it requires a specific tilt plane.

      It would be easy to duplicate code and check both angles, and this would be particularly good for me as I prefer Sapphire and tonic to beer, and a pitcher of gin & tonic would be very dangerous. A promptly-filled (or at least opportunity to fill) glass of said refreshment would be highly appreciated. This is a very good idea indeed, and I think with minor refinement this could be sold all over the world at huge profits. Bars make money. Keeping drinks filled makes them more.

      It also probably means (a few) more drunks and a slight hike in alcoholism, but, eh, whatever :)

      BTW, I've seen the "similar" systems in Japan referenced in the article as inspiration. But the ones I saw required you to actually move a finger and push a button when you wanted a drink. Effective, but usually unnecessary since service in Japanese eating and drinking establishments is remarkably and consistintly good, IME.

      I disagree with the other poster who suggested that somehow weighing the beer pitcher is simpler than this accelerometer method. Accelerometers are cheap, small, reliable, and easy to work with compared to weight-measurement devices.

      Finally, someone else said to use an electronic switch closed by beer (beer being the conductor) that senses lack of beer when the switch opens. Cheaper yes, but I'm not sure how passing (even a small) current through beer would make it taste, but I bet one (or both) of the terminals of the switch would be a corroded nightmare after a few weeks. Cleaning that would be a bitch, and it would look gross.

      --
      everything in moderation
  2. This is useless... by sugar+and+acid · · Score: 4, Interesting

    ...as real pubs don't have wait staff, they have bar staff who you ask for a new jug/pitcher from when and if you need one. If y

    The most annoying though is guys in the toilet in some bars that are there for the sack of tips. I mean really I know how to wash my hands, and dry them to. The're only reason as far as I can see is to basically squirt soup on my hands and after washin my hands to dry with paper towels, and then for me to give a tip for a task I could have completed in half the time if I had done it by myself. In fact I consider very tacky for a bar to do this, it insults the intellgence and cleanliness of its clients.

  3. Re:I have an idea... by OtakuHawk · · Score: 4, Interesting

    In some states mercury tilt switches are illegal because of thier applications in bomb making. No joke.

  4. Why is drinking automatically bad? by zymurgy_cat · · Score: 2, Interesting

    From the project site:

    1. Accept responsibility in making engineering decisions consistent with the safety, health and welfare of the public, and to disclose promptly factors that might endanger the public or the environment. We realize that our project could appear to be unsafe because it encourages drinking and the continuation of purchasing beverages.

    Why must everything involving alcohol (at least in the US) automatically assume at one point or another that drinking = bad? All this does is let you (or rather, the wait staff) know your pitcher is empty for a refill. I fail to see how it "encourages" excessive drinking (which is implied). When I go to a restaraunt and the waiter/waitress asks if I'd like a beer, is he/she "encouraging" me to drink excessively? Is he/she "encouraging" me to drink excessively when asking if I want another beer when my current beer is almost empty?

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    -- Fugacity: Confusing chemists since 1908
  5. The next step by Ty_Webb · · Score: 2, Interesting

    But does it advertise to the central server the precise brand or type of brew you were drinking?

    Oh the possibilities...