#Does ember mugs work series#
Since the wall charger output voltage is approximately 20 V and should be slightly higher than the battery pack, it is assumed that the battery pack has 5 Li-ion cells in series for a total battery voltage of ~17 V. The feedback control is simple proportional gain. The thermal mass of the liquid is modeled by the block in the diagram with a coffee-cup symbol.
From the measurements used to characterize the actual device (see Figure 4), it appears that the PCM contains multiple melting-point materials: thus two materials were included in the model, at melting points of 47C and 52C. This circuit model includes modeling the PCM. One of my original reasons for modeling the mug was so I could estimate the impact on battery life of increasing the maximum allowable temperature setpoint (currently 62.5C / 145F). I determined that the maximum could be easily be increased by a few degrees with an acceptable decrease in battery life. This model in Figure 3 simulates the process of filling the mug with a hot liquid and maintaining it at the setpoint until the battery is depleted. SystemVision Ember Mug System Model (click to open on ) The overall system is beautifully executed, with an elegant user experience and phone app that is connected via Bluetooth.įigure 3. Thermodynamically, the beverage is cooled by transferring energy from the hot liquid to the PCM by progressively melting the PCM (changing its phase from solid to liquid, with the resulting transfer of the heat of fusion from the coffee to the PCM).įigure 1 shows the major components of the mug, including the phase change material. But the cooling mechanism is, well, much cooler! The mug uses a patented (link is external) approach, encasing the mug with a phase change material (PCM). The heating mechanism is a straightforward electrothermal heating element. The Ember mug tackles this problem by providing a mechanism for both heating and cooling. But that means the liquid will start out too hot and then gradually cool, only passing through the ideal temperature briefly. Most beverage mugs are optimized to simply maintain the existing temperature, typically by thermally insulating the liquid from the outside world. This is trickier than it sounds, since it means that the control system built into the mug would need to both heat and cool the liquid. I was intrigued by the claim that the Ember mug could keep my coffee at the PERFECT drinking temperature. Ember - Heating And Cooling An Elegant Design My alternative was to perform a virtual teardown by making measurements on the mug, speculating how it works, modeling it with SystemVision, and adjusting model configuration and parameters until the simulations and real-life measurements matched. What is $150 for a device that will make each consumption experience perfect?Īt $150, though, a real-life teardown would be too spendy for my taste. If you're spending $3.50 a day for such beverages, that's over $1,000 a year. Unlike traditional mugs, where the beverage is too hot at the beginning and too cold at the end, an Ember mug gives you the ideal temperature for the entire drinking experience.
It has a simple value proposition: with an Ember mug, you can consume your beverage precisely at your personally-selected perfect temperature. The Ember travel mug is a $149.95 tech version of the venerable hot beverage mug. I knew that I had to get one and would then inevitably spend my weekend trying to figure out precisely how it works. When I saw the original advertisement for the Ember coffee mug, I was drawn to it like a Seattleite to a Starbucks. Original Darrell Teegarden blog on Virtual Teardown
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