The idea of Mr. Coffee.res sprouted from a conversation over what is the most useless gadget that could be attached to a computer? Since only one other resident on this floor admits drinking the stuff, my Mr. Coffee stuck out like a sore thumb.

I spent winter break 1997 assembling the hardware and coding the software to make it work. The "brain" is a Basic Stamp 2 from Parallax, Inc., which aquires data from the sensors on-demand and sends packets to the host computer, mrcoffee.res.cmu.edu. A C++ program receives and processes the packets into a file. A second program parses this data into HTML and sends it to your browser. With this design, additional services such as finger and telnet can be added to view the same data with minimal difficulty because of the common reading program.

Sometimes the web page may not load. This can be caused by several factors:

1) Somebody is currently accessing Mr. Coffee.res! The software/hardware can only service one person at a time, and as a rule, this is the LAST person to connect (to protect against multiple browser 'reload' requests). Please note that the stamp requires approximately 3 seconds to transmit data to the web server.

2) Hey! That thermometer reading is way off! Yes, the thermometer may need to be recalibrated. For instance, the room temperature is NOT 84.567 degrees fahrenheit in the middle of the night, in winter, in Pittsburgh! Okay, now that it's summer, these conditions are quite likely.  Bah!

3) I finally soldiered every connection (alligator clips just don't cut it!). The stamp also draws its power directly from the computer's power supply, so as long as nobody turns off the machine, it will be on. *

What is Mr. Coffee.res?

Mr. Coffee.res is an old 486dx2/66 which has found a new use (after previous employment as a paperweight)! It runs Debian GNU Linux 1.3 and the Apache 1.1.3 web server on a whopping 20MB of RAM. Please pardon the speed! :)

The Coffee machine is a standard Mr. Coffee, Commercial Edition, with 12 cup capacity and a plesant red power switch.

Click here to see Mr. Coffee.res.

* I have resolved these shortcomings (I think).


Copyright © 1998, Jared Smolens. All Rights Reserved.