Coffee roasting software
Live software for your TC4 rig.
Bridge polls your TC4 over USB-serial and streams every degree into your First Crack library at 1 Hz. Auto phase detection, event keyboard, cloud sync, community sharing. You'd be one of the first to run it on real hardware.
Supported models
TC4 + aArtisan (stock)
TestedStock aArtisan sketch at 19200 baud. Live read of BT, ET, and computed RoR (monitor-only, see below). Seeking our first real-hardware validator: request beta access and get priority review.
aArtisanQ_PID fork
TestedSame READ protocol; commonly ships at 115200 baud. Bridge tries both rates automatically on a freshly-plugged board.
How it connects
USB-Serial
Plug the TC4's Arduino into your laptop and Bridge finds it in the USB scan. It polls the aArtisan READ command once a second and waits out the Arduino's bootloader reset on connect, so a freshly-plugged board just works, with no terminal and no config files.
- USB cable to the Arduino carrying the TC4 shield
- aArtisan or aArtisanQ_PID firmware (19200 or 115200 baud — auto-detected)
- macOS 26+ or Windows 10 build 19041+ / Windows 11
Monitor-only today. Bridge reads your TC4's thermocouple channels but does not drive OT1/OT2 (heater / fan) outputs; if you run a PID loop, it stays on your rig. Live logging, phase detection, event keyboard, RoR, and cloud sync all work; the only thing missing is software-driven control. Recipes still run in guided mode, and the control strip records the moves you make by hand.
Nobody has validated Bridge on a physical TC4 board yet. The adapter is built and protocol-tested, and we're looking for the first owners to run it — validator requests get priority review and direct support from us.
What you get
Recipes on a roaster we can't control
Bridge never pretends to command this rig, but your recipe still works: each step cues you at its trigger ("305°F: fan to 45%"), and one tap logs the move you made on the machine. The steppers in the control strip do the same for manual moves, marked Monitor · logs only. The result is something monitor rigs never get: a roast record with a full control history, not just a temperature curve.
Live BT + ET + RoR
Bridge polls the aArtisan READ command once a second over USB-serial. BT, ET, and a 30-second linear-regression RoR render on the same curve the rest of First Crack draws.
Channel mapping, your way
A TC4 board exposes four bare thermocouple channels, and the firmware has no idea which probe is bean vs environment. Bridge asks once — you assign roles in a quick mapper and it remembers your rig.
Automatic phase detection
Drying, Maillard, and development annotate themselves as your mapped bean-temp channel crosses each transition, with no tagging even on a hand-built rig.
Event keyboard
Numpad-first logging for CHARGE, Turning Point, Dry End, First Crack, and Drop. Tap or hit the highlighted key; Bridge timestamps to the second while your PID loop stays on the rig.
Cloud sync from the first session
Every TC4 roast syncs to your account as it happens. Open it later on any device, with bean records, cupping notes, and recipes in one place.
Community comparison
Publish your TC4 curves and compare against other roasters on the same beans. Filter the feed by origin, process, or roast level.
First Crack vs. Artisan
| Feature | First Crack | Artisan |
|---|---|---|
| Live read from TC4 (USB-serial) | Yes | Yes |
| Drive heater / fan (OT1 / OT2) | No | Yes |
| Zero-config setup (auto baud + channel mapper) | Yes | manual port config |
| Native Linux app | No | Yes |
| Cloud sync + multi-device library | Yes | No |
| Bean inventory + recipe management | Yes | No |
| Cupping workflow + ratings | Yes | No |
| Community roast sharing | Yes | No |
| Imports your existing .alog files | Yes | n/a |
Inside the app
Ready to be the first TC4 roaster on Bridge?
Bridge is in private beta — we review every request by hand, and TC4 validator requests go to the front of the queue. While you wait, Guided Roast runs in any browser with just a thermometer.