Mate is a traditional Argentine caffeine-rich infused drink *. It is prepared by steeping dried leaves of yerba mate in hot water and is served with a metal straw named “bombilla” from a shared cup.
The ceremony of pouring water is called "Cebar mate" and is usually performed by one person for an entire goup of people but what if an Arduino machine takes place?
To prepare the perfect mate water should be hot but not too hot – 70 to 80 Celsius – the right amount of water should be poured and Yerba cannot be used for too long (or the mate will be “lavado”).
The Arduino Mate Dispenser take care of all these specifications with minimum resources (right now Argentina is under a "new" crisis with restrictions to get and spend US dollars)
How does this machine works?
1. Arduino Nano will open a relay to heat the water while measuring temperature with the NTC thermistor.
2. When the water is at correct temperature, machine will let you know that is ready to serve
3. If you put the mate cup under the machine, the exact amount of water (configurable by software) will be poured
4. An internal counter will determine if it's time to renew the Yerba.
The 16x2 LCD display presents information about temperature, Yerba renew, etc.
*Other countries from South America like Uruguay and Brazil also drinks mate with subtle differences but in any case, mate is a must for the entire region.
Complete code and circuits are included in the book Proyectos Divertidos con Arduino #2 (Free download with Kindle Unlimited) https://amzn.to/3bVo413
Comments