{"id":575,"date":"2025-10-28T07:29:47","date_gmt":"2025-10-28T05:29:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.hh3dlab.fi\/blog\/?p=575"},"modified":"2025-10-28T07:46:18","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T05:46:18","slug":"sip-n-sense-intelligence-mug-project","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.hh3dlab.fi\/blog\/iot\/sip-n-sense-intelligence-mug-project\/","title":{"rendered":"Sip ‘n’ Sense – Intelligent mug project"},"content":{"rendered":"

Introduction<\/strong><\/h1>\n

When we first began our studies at Haaga-Helia University of Applied Sciences, we were immediately intrigued by the world of IoT. Our journey started with the very first course, Internet of Things: A Business Perspective, where we explored different approaches to creating IoT solutions. From the beginning, our main goal was to develop a component of a weather station. From that point on, we were hooked.<\/p>\n

We joined a course introduced by our teacher, Heikki Hietala, called the International IT Seminar for Students<\/em>. In this class, we delved deeper into coding with Arduino and experimented with creating various devices, such as smartwatches and radio stations. One of the highlights was traveling to Spain with our classmates, where we connected with students from around the world and shared our knowledge of the IoT field.<\/p>\n

In conclusion, while we had already gained some knowledge of IoT programming from previous classes, we remain eager to expand our skills and learn more each day.<\/p>\n

Ideas<\/strong><\/h1>\n

At the start of this project, we already had a pretty clear vision of what we wanted to create. Our goal was to build something fun and practical that could be used at student events, a playful gadget that works as a memorable party trick.<\/p>\n

The first idea we had were:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. 1. IoT Truth or Dare Cube, A physical cube you shake, and the result is shown on a connected app with fun challenges.<\/li>\n
  2. Elevator Prank box, A device you carry that automatically plays elevator music when you stop moving for more than 10 seconds.<\/li>\n
  3. Plant Whisperer Mug, A mug that \u201ctalks\u201d to your nearby plant via Bluetooth and shares fun plant updates when you drink near it (like \u201cYour plant is jealous of your water\u201d).<\/li>\n
  4. Mood Doorbell, instead of a ding-dong, the doorbell plays random sound effects (lightsaber, goat scream, Mario coin) each time it\u2019s pressed. You can update sounds via app.<\/li>\n
  5. IoT Shoesoles, Measure how many steps you take in a day but instead of fitness stats, it gives random fun facts or jokes based on your steps.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    But what we chose to continue this project with is a Sip \u2018n\u2019 Sense<\/strong>:<\/p>\n

    A cup that tracks how often you drink water and sends you random motivational or silly push notifications like \u201cYou\u2019re basically a cactus, drink up!\u201d <\/em>What we\u2019re going to do is add an alcohol content tracker that detects if there is alcohol in the mug. If the mug detects alcohol, it will send a message to your device with a hilarious message like \u201coh, it\u2019s that kind of Monday huh?\u201d<\/em> etc.<\/p>\n

    What did we need to learn<\/strong><\/h1>\n

    At the beginning, we needed to learn how to use several new components and integrate them together: the ESP32 microcontroller, HC-SR04 ultrasonic sensor, MQ-3 alcohol sensor, GPS NEO-6M, infrared thermometer, push button, and WS2812B LED strip. We also had to learn how to program Telegram bots to send and receive notifications from our device.<\/p>\n

    The initial scope<\/strong> of the project was to create a playful IoT device called Sip \u2018n\u2019 Sense<\/em>: a smart mug that could track how often you drink, detect alcohol content, measure temperature, and send witty push notifications to encourage hydration (or joke about drinking alcohol).<\/p>\n

    Our learning objectives<\/strong> included:<\/p>\n

      \n
    • Understanding and wiring different sensors (ultrasonic, alcohol, GPS, temperature).<\/li>\n
    • Programming ESP32 in the Arduino IDE and using libraries like TinyGPSPlus, UniversalTelegramBot, and Adafruit_NeoPixel.<\/li>\n
    • Designing and implementing a Telegram bot for user interaction.<\/li>\n
    • Calibrating sensors to produce meaningful readings.<\/li>\n
    • Measuring physical dimensions of the mug to calculate liquid levels accurately.<\/li>\n
    • Using 3D printing to create a lid that fits all components.<\/li>\n
    • Integrating LED lights to visualize the water level in a fun way.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

      The building phase<\/strong><\/h1>\n

      At the beginning of this class, our task was to build monitor lights and screens that could detect the distance between the monitor and an object. Here\u2019s a short video collage showcasing the result. The components used in the project above included an I2C backpack for the LCD screen, Arduino, ultrasonic distance sensor, breadboard, cables, LEDs, jumpers, resistors, and push buttons. Enjoy.<\/p>\n