Interfacing Spark with the IoT ControllerĪt this point, we had our tap, our device, and a means of controlling the device. I was trained in electronics in the Navy but that was a whole other life ago, so a refresher course was warranted. An advantage of the Arduino is that it includes a starter kit to help with the circuit layout. Arduino Yun is a wireless-capable microcontroller with both USB and Ethernet connections. Next, we researched the devices ThingSpeak supports and chose the Arduino Yun. Oh, did I fail to mention that I am not a programmer? I knew I’d need all the help I could get. We chose ThingSpeak because of the graphical nature of the interface and more importantly, the support they offered. Most of that decision was made for us once we found the right IoT integrator to use as each integrator supports different IoT devices. The next step was deciding what IoT device we would use to control the motor. And finally it hit us! We could simply pressurize the beer like we did in college and just control the tap with our device, solving the pump problem. Some of the better beers were tested several times, in the name of science of course. We manually poured different beers at different speeds and carefully analyized and recorded varirables such as the angle of glass, speed and volume of the pour, and the amount of foam produced. (Which no one likes.) So, like any good technical team, we conveniened for a Saturday afternoon brainstorming session. We we tried to pump the beer like the ShotBot but all we’d get is a glass full of foam. Pouring beer is, however, very different than pouring liquor. Same idea except it poured a shot of liquor. A few years ago, a team of Cisco employees created a ShotBot. The first step of building the KegBot was figuring out if it could even be done. After all, what good is all this technology and automation if we can’t put it use for something worthwhile? Well, thanks to the KegBot, gone are the days of spending months training your dog to open the fridge and bring you a can of your favorite frosty beverage. With an IoT device connected to a keg of beer, you simply open the Cisco Spark app on your smartphone, put your favorite IE OktoberTekfest beerstein under the tap and request the perfect pour! That’s right, this the the 21 st century and we needed a solution to the first world problem of getting a great beer with the least amount of effort. The perfect marriage of technology and beer, if we do say so ourselves. Wouldn’t it be cool if we could combine two of our favorite things, technology AND beer? And then it hit us, we’ll build a KegBot! An event with a fully functional beer garden, lots of beer flowing, and the smell of brats, pretzels and other great food. We thought about what technology could we show at a German Oktoberfest-inspired event. We wanted to not only showcase our partner’s tech but also what creative things our technical team can do with them. This year we thought we’d take a slightly different approach with one demo. There are so many technologies with so much potential. As part of the planning team for IE, it falls on me to determine what Collaboration technology we’re going to present to give our customers a glimpse of the future and prepare their organizations for what’s to come. It’s a great opportunity to see the latest products and solutions offered by IE and our partners, to meet the IE staff and have some fun. For the last 5 years, IE’s invited customers to sample the latest technologies and some of the best local beer and food as part of our OktoberTekfest event.
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