3P1 Case Study.
Coffee Roaster.
3P1 developed the award-winning coffee bean roaster, an innovative product that pioneered the use of the internet of things (IoT) within smaller, everyday devices. It’s an innovative device because the embedded IoT capabilities (Bluetooth) enable coffee connoisseurs around the world to roast their coffee beans according to their specific type and pedigree. In addition to this, it also enables them to receive back the precise roasting profile that each bean cultivar has experienced. This enables them to record and refine their roasting preferences across different varieties and recreate them easily and with a very high degree of precision.
The challenges
The client wanted to be able to deliver a hyper personalised coffee roasting experience, thereby offering features that their competitors did not. They wanted their customers to be able to roast the beans according to the optimised profile supplied by the brand or choose their own profile. To do this, they needed to offer real time reporting capabilities, by means of an embedded IoT device (Bluetooth) that could deliver roasting information instantly to the users’ app. They also needed the ability to monitor and control every aspect of the roasting process. This information included humidity, temperature and the level of fan usage inside the bean roaster.
The solution
We helped design develop, prototype and test a truly innovative product that hit firsts with IoT (Bluetooth profiling via APP) and bespoke roasting of beans according to personal preferences.
3P1 initiated its now extensive experience in configuring wireless Bluetooth systems and consolidated its experience with control systems – the fan and heater needing a very precise Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) temperature control system to achieve optimal coffee bean roasting for all types and brands of coffee from all over the world.
Key Areas of Expertise
Product design, IoT embedding, prototyping, Bluetooth, PID, control systems, systems integration.
The benefits:
- Hyper personalisation – The personalisation of the coffee roasting process adds a premium, luxury element.
- Experiential device usage – Personalised coffee roasting profiles are created for each user, giving them higher engagement levels and a deeper, more meaningful experience.
- Enhanced user experience – Users simply hit a button to recreate every aspect of their own preferred coffee roasting process.
- Consistent results – The finely tuned coordination of the integrated Proportional-Integral-Derivative (PID) control system enables consistently high-quality results to be delivered.
- Stronger profit margins – The luxury aspect attracts more discerning customers, opening up more of an exclusive, premium market to the brand. This enables them to stand out within their market and justify a higher cost point and generate higher profit margins.
