Mugsy, the Raspberry Pi-Powered Coffee Maker, Is Nearing Production

It has been one year since Mugsy launched on Kickstarter with a successful campaign that gathered 337 backers and generated more than…

Cameron Coward
5 years ago

It has been one year since Mugsy launched on Kickstarter with a successful campaign that gathered 337 backers and generated more than twice its funding goal. Mugsy is a robotic coffee maker built around the Raspberry Pi, and which uses a lot of clever technology to become your own personal barista and brew you the perfect cup of coffee every time. But shipments to Kickstarter backers have been delayed, and so we talked to Mugsy’s creator, Matthew Oswald, about the current status and what customers can expect when they get Mugsy.

Mugsy was originally expected to be delivered to Kickstarter backers in November of 2018, which means that production is currently about five months behind schedule. Oswald says it will likely be another month before Mugsy will start shipping in earnest to backers. That delay comes down to hiccups in production — a situation many startups find themselves in. But, to Oswald’s credit, he has been very forthcoming about those delays, and communicates frequently with backers to keep them updated.

Fortunately for backers, and future customers, that time hasn’t been passed idly. Oswald, along with members of the Mugsy development community, have been hard at work creating new features. That includes a completely redesigned pour-over mechanism, compatibility with other pour-over methods, and even a hardware-agnostic coffee-brewing control API called Decaf.

Decaf is Mugsy’s API that allows for completely customized control of the machine. It was written in Python using the Flask framework, and can be controlled with a standard JSON endpoint. That means you can easily get Mugsy talking to any other device or service and come up with a completely new experience. And, because the Decaf API is open-source, you can use it in any project — even if that doesn’t include Mugsy.

Other updates include the release of the Mugsy Cloud Control service (with Alexa integration) to Kickstarter backers, and most of Mugsy’s CAD files and Arduino code being published on GitHub. There is already a growing community of Mugsy fans who are pushing new developments forward, and there are even upcoming backer meetups in New York City.

If you’d like to secure a Mugsy for yourself, pre-orders are still available. The DIY kit version is just $165, and a ready-to-brew Mugsy is $249.99.

Cameron Coward
Writer for Hackster News. Proud husband and dog dad. Maker and serial hobbyist.
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