Italian pasta specialist Barilla is looking to help people lower their energy bills and reduce their environmental impact with a system of “passive cooking” – using a smart timer, based on an Arduino Nano 33 BLE board, launched as DIY unlock devices.

“Passive cooking is an alternative method of cooking pasta that reduces carbon dioxide emissions by up to 80 percent compared to the traditional method,” the company explains in an announcement that brought it to our attention. Arduino Blog. “To adopt it, simply turn off the stove after two minutes of active cooking, cover the pot with a lid and wait for the appropriate cooking time. Of course, as with all cooking methods, following the correct timing is critical.”

Here Barilla turned to technology for help. The company’s passive cooker is a device designed to be hung on the lid of any cooking pot to monitor its temperature. When the water reaches its boiling point, an alert is sent via Bluetooth Low Energy to a companion smartphone app that tells the user to add pasta; After the first two minutes, another prompt is sent to turn off the heat; Finally, the device doubles the “passive” part of the cooking process and lets the user know when the pasta is ready.

Interestingly, while Barilla has developed the Passive Cooker app, companion app, and timing chart for various pasta products in-house, it is not releasing the device as a commercial product; Instead, it is released under an open source license. “We wanted to make this project open source so that everyone could make their own version and even improve it if they wanted to,” the company explains. If you are a maker, you can download all materials to print your Passive Cooker [and] Download instructions to properly assemble the device. “

The instrument uses a simple circuit to measure the temperature of the lid of the container it is attached to. ( ?: Barilla)

The device itself is 3D-printed in biodegradable plastic up to 150°C (302°F), which includes an Arduino Nano 33 BLE development board, a thermistor, a resistor, a capacitor, and a battery holder for two AAA lithium batteries — plus a switch so it can Turn off the device when it is not in use.

Those interested in making their own Passive Cooker can find the print files, source code and instructions On Barilla’s website Under an unspecified open source license; The company has also launched a WhatsApp bot that provides timing information but without the benefit of temperature monitoring.