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Mar, 2020
Summary:
A semi-functional replica of Larry David's heated coffee cup from Curb Your Enthusiasm.
Key challenges:
Test power consumption and heater efficiency.
Technologies used:
Arduino,
Esp8266
Fusion360
Cura/3D Printing
Design -Fusion360
Case
The case is designed to fit an existing coffee cup from a local roaster that closely resembles the cup from Curb.
The model shows 10 holes for snap-fitting 5050 LEDs, two cavities for capacitive touch buttons, and mounting holes below for the circuit subassembly.
Subassembly
The subassembly contains an esp8266, a lipo charge/control module, a MOSFET module, and a 1000mah battery.
Testing:
For warming, I used a polyimide film trace resistance heater attached to the bottom of the cup. Using a variable power supply and water with a constant starting temperature of 150°F I measured the temperature decrease every 5 minutes until I deemed the water too cold.
As result, 16 watts were required to keep the coffee drinkable for over 30 minutes. This would drain a 18650 battery in less than 30 minutes.
A possible workaround is to add wireless charging. Some off-the-shelf inductive charging coils are capable of transferring 15W. Combined with better thermal transfer this may be enough to make it feasible.
Coffee CooldownResults:
Ultimately this did not pan out to be 100% functional. At some point, I may revisit and do a complete redesign. For now, it is shelved and merely serves as decoration. Regardless of pitfalls in functionality, I was happy with the overall project design.