Voice-Controlled Home Barista

Say you want a certain high-end coffee machine, but the model you’ve selected doesn’t come with voice control. Obviously you wouldn’t want to have to manually push buttons and turn dials, and if you’d like to add that functionality yourself, be sure to check out this article. The hack outlined there uses a Raspberry Pi and Snips for voice input, along with an Arduino Nano to actually adjust brew settings to your liking.

The tutorial does a good job of showing how to disassemble a Delonghi Ecam coffee maker. It’s then modified with a stepper to turn a selection dial, and a bank of relays to activate buttons automatically. This operation isn’t for the feint of heart (or wallet), however, as it involves adding wires and drilling into the interface PCB — as well as the unit’s housing of a roughly $350 machine. Given its price tag, budget-conscious hackers might want to go for the “or similar” option in the hack’s write-up — perhaps even something from a thrift store.

Budget concerns aside, the concept is interesting and quite versatile, perhaps even beyond coffee or espresso making. As seen in the video below, the results of the hack itself are excellent, brewing two cups of espresso via voice command!