Smart Coffee Mug

[EngDrewman]

I'm doing a project for my engineering product design class and would like your opinion on it. We all know how much computer geeks & coffee go together, so for my project my team is designing a "Smart Mug"- a USB coffee travel mug that includes 5GB of flash memory and has a thermoelectric heater/chiller to keep hot beverages hot and cold drinks cold. The USB cord and thermoelectric heatsink would be covered by a removable, watertight rubber base so that the mug can be washed in a dishwasher. One of my teammates suggested making the body out of carbon fiber to add geek appeal, but I think that would jack the price up too much.

So, the survey is, how much would you be willing to pay for such a mug? Any suggestions?

[Xzoky]

Sounds cool ! I think I'd pay quite a lot for a heating carbon fiber mug that has 5GB of mass storage !
Now what would be really cool is that the mug would ship with some software that displays the temperature of your coffee on-screen ;-)

[boof1988]

Sounds cool ! I think I'd pay quite a lot for a heating carbon fiber mug that has 5GB of mass storage !
Now what would be really cool is that the mug would ship with some software that displays the temperature of your coffee on-screen ;-)

You beat me to it. I was going to recommend a digital temperature display as well.

I think it's a great idea to have a hi-tech mug. Definitely a niche market thing.

I am not sure if carbon fiber is the best... or not... I don't know... what's most important insulation or conduction. Maybe research some ceramic composite that is lightweight, strong and good thermal insulation or not.

Maybe add an alarm or something to tell when:

The coffee's too hot
Just reached the drinkable temperature from being too hot or cold
Warning: the coffee is almost too cold to drink so get to gulpin'
The coffee is frozen
The coffee is gone so turn off the heating/cooling (automatic)


Good luck with your project and keep us posted.

:guitar:

[Old_Grey_Wolf]

I can buy:

Ceramic Coffee Mugs (in quantity) for $2
6GB USB Thumb Drive for $15
Coffee Mug Warmer for $10

Total $27

Having that combined in one product would be worth between $30 and $40 if the heater was powered by the USB. That seems like a lot of power for a USB.

[EngDrewman]

Where can u get a 6GB Flash drive for $15?!

[paul101]

you need alot of energy to produce heat. the usb device wont be capable of even sustaining the coffee's temperature

[EngDrewman]

Yes the USB thermoelectric unit may not be able to produce much heat, but as I stated in the description, it should be enough to keep an already hot beverage hot and an already cold drink cold.

[aaaantoine]

As a matter of fact, I already own a travel mug that receives power from a USB port or car adapter. It's not dishwasher safe, though.

[Old_Grey_Wolf]

Where can u get a 6GB Flash drive for $15?!

Google on 6GB USB Drive. You will find that in quantities of 50 you can get 16GB for $14.