Beer is as old as civilization itself, but beer brewers are still finding new ways of improving the way the stuff is made. Case in point: BrewPi, a fermentation temperature control system powered by the tiny Rapsberry Pi computer that’s taking the tech world by storm.
The project is just one example of how open source software and a new breed of ultra-cheap computer hardware make it that much easier for the people to build, well, whatever they want. The Raspberry Pi and other low-cost hardware platforms such as the Arduino microcontroller boards are a means of connecting all sorts of existing devices so that they can readily interact with each other. They let hobbyists and small companies build their own “internet of things.”