A team of engineers from Karfidov Lab, an engineering design laboratory created within NUST MISIS, has developed a prototype of a portable wireless coffee machine small enough to fit into a car’s cup holder. This battery-powered miniature device can both serve as a full-fledged coffee machine and a water cooler, and can be operated using a mobile app.
iBarman is how the developers called their invention. It is the size of a thermal cup that takes water, two coffee capsules, milk and sugar or tea. It is powered by regular batteries and operated using a touch panel. The coffee machine has a 350 ml reservoir that both brews coffee and can be used as a removable cup. The upper part of the device contains a separation plate that goes down as the water leaves the reservoir on the lower end and reemerges from the top as a hot drink.
“We were able to achieve optimal dimensions for this device: iBarman can even fit into a cup holder in a car. It should be noted that standard coffee machines use variable pressure pumps to create pressure of 15 to 19 bar. This makes a lot of noise, sends vibrations across the machine and the surface it’s sitting on. In our device, there are no such pumps, so there are no vibrations. Instead, we use a unique design concept, which consists of semi-cylinders in the bottom of the cup powered by an electric motor. For this device, we designed a magnetic valve that ensures optimal pressure and guarantees high-quality coffee,” Dmitry Vasiliev, Development Director at NUST MISIS’s engineering company, said.
The time it takes to make beverages depends on the desired temperature and volume. For instance, it will take one minute to brew an Americano coffee. And it will take 40 to 60 seconds to cool it down to 15 degrees, while a freezer needs as much as 10 minutes to achieve the same result. This means that with water and capsules, car drivers can obtain a professionally brewed coffee or tea on the go, or use the device for chilling water or other drinks.
The project team has completed the assembly of a prototype and is testing it. The engineers are now working on reducing its weight, since the prototype weighs 1 kilogram. The device is expected to hit serial production in 2017. Megistone, the Russian start-up that commissioned the project, said that the price of the device will be comparable to that of a budget coffee machine.
In the future, NUST MISIS and Karfidov Lab engineers intend to make two modified versions of the device. The first one will only serve as a cooler, and will be substantially smaller and lighter than the original product, and the second will be designed to brew coffee in the most extreme conditions. It will have a sturdier body and a powerful battery, as well as infrared irradiation for killing bacteria in raw water. This version of the coffee machine will hold even more capsules.
Karfidov Lab
