Biruino – An Arduino-powered Beer Tap with PubNub & RFIDs

Magnus, a software developer from Stockholm with a background in data integration and a passion for craft beer, has created an innovative IoT beer tap project, inspired by an after-work outing and the need for controlled access in his office canteen. The system, dubbed "Biruino," integrates PubNub's pub/sub pattern for seamless communication among various hardware components and features a central cloud-hosted controller that manages operations based on sensor inputs. Challenges in hardware development included the need for more GPIO pins and handling components requiring different power voltages, leading to a switch from small Arduinos to ESP8266 Arduinos with WiFi. The system operates by having users swipe an RFID card, triggering a series of actions including valve operation, LED color changes, and personalized messages, all while tracking individual beer consumption. Developers interested in exploring or contributing to this project can access the code on GitHub.