Refill? Coaster To The Rescue!
Friday, October 13th, 2006You know that feeling when you really need a refill and the waiter or bartender is looking everywhere except in your direction? At that moment in time, the first thought that would probably cross your mind is to hurl you mug at the waiter just to get his attention!
But we live in a world of technology, someone will come up with an innovative solution to this problem.
And someone has. Well, a bunch of someones actually. Professor Andreas Butz from the University of Munich in Germany is the man in charge. Supervising two of his students - Herr Matthias Hannen and Herr Robert Doer (Herr means Mister by the way…), the trio came up with an intelligent coaster. With the annual Oktoberfest happening in Germany year after year, it’s no surprise that an invention like this comes up from there!
The coaster is a cylindrical design with the electronics nested inside. Your normal everyday square cardboard beermat sits on top. There are two sensors - one to detect the weight on the coaster and the other is a gravity sensor.
With the weight sensor, the coaster can pretty much tell how much drink you have left in your glass. When a preset level or intervals are reached, the coaster will send a signal to notify the bartender or waiter. Instant refill.
The gravity sensor keeps track of the coaster’s position. It can tell if it is upside down, rightside up or waved around. This opens a host of possibilities like sending an urgent refill signal if you wave the coaster rapidly or used as a vote system in a karaoke bar.
If one were to implement this in a bar, how many would one lose to cheeky customers in a day I wonder? One thing is for certain, after a couple of refills, the coaster might be the only intelligent thing left at that table!
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