ZPM pid controlled espresso machine

Igor Zamlinsky (left) and Gleb Polyakov (right), both Russian immigrants who grew up in Atlanta. Igor is a mechanical engineering student at Virginia Tech and Gleb is a student at George Tech.

kickstarter page

features:

redesigned thermoblock

PID controlled temperature and pressure, pre-infusion, shot-time settings

all these parameters are user programmable

Arduino Mega controlled

Vimeo

Kickstarted in 2012, raised 16 times more of its target, promised to deliver the machine in 2 years time.  Unable to complete the project, and sold the IPs to John Buckman, who founded the Decent Espresso machine DE1 

Home barista

dtusciencepark. Why crowdfunded hardware projects fail

.... working with pressurized, boiling water can be a dangerous game for even the most experienced engineers, and Polyakov and Zamlinsky were just beginning their careers. Early prototypes of the machine had water “spurt[ing] halfway across the room”, and later ones sported deflecting panels under high pressure. After addressing design and quality issues with the espresso machine’s shell, the team managed to get 50 units off the line for a beta test – these units suffered from disconnected displays, sticking buttons, mis-assembled steam wands, leaking discharge tubes, and rupturing drain tubes.

jasondominy

Patent