A maker has built a do-it-yourself coffee roasting rig powered by the Arduino maker board.
The maker, a YouTuber named Alex Campbell, built the machine consisting of stainless steel and aluminum components along with a transparent roasting chamber. A blower is employed to suck waste out and agitate beans during the process.
The heating element is driven by a solid-state relay and a thermocouple provides feedback. The Arduino board controls the system, while the user interface and high-level control are handled via a laptop linked to it over a serial interface.
The method may be for the diehard coffee connoisseur, but Campbell gives a breakdown of how it works and how to set up a DIY system for anyone who wants to go about building one on their own.
In the video, Campbell gives a detailed explanation about how the system works and how the beans function in the roaster in case someone isn’t familiar with the process. This includes the beginning of the roast process, how the rig deals with waste that is sucked from the beans and the various states of roasting as the beans are cycled in the roasting chamber.
The interesting part is when Campbell talks about the challenges of building the roaster including not having any prior design experience in building a roaster, getting the fan to work on computer control and never welding before but learning the basics by watching YouTube videos.
