fermSYS VOC-Buddy for making water kefir with intelligent fermentation control
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
What if feeding a fermentation process was not just a recipe step — but an intelligent control strategy?
This is exactly where our fermSYS Buddy comes in.
In water kefir production, microorganisms continuously consume sugars and produce a complex mixture of metabolites that determine the final product — including acidity, aroma, carbonation and taste. Fermentation dynamics are strongly influenced by factors such as substrate concentration, inoculum, oxygen availability, temperature and fermentation time.
The challenge is: how do we provide the right amount of substrate at the right time?
Meet the fermSYS VOC-Buddy
The fermSYS Buddy combines our compact fermSYS CUBE with a dosing pump and an intelligent fermentation control.
But the real value is not just in the hardware.
The CUBE and pump communicate directly via an ad-hoc Wi-Fi connection. No complex infrastructure is required. This creates a direct and flexible connection between process measurement and process control.
Using the fermHUB-CUBE software, the feeding strategy can be configured directly — from defined feeding profiles and time-based strategies to closed-loop control using PID regulation.
This means that feeding does not have to follow a fixed recipe. Instead of simply adding all the sugar at the beginning, the process can be supplied dynamically and according to the actual fermentation progress.
The idea is simple: Measure → Understand → Feed → Optimize
By controlling substrate availability during fermentation, we can influence the metabolic activity of the microbial community and keep the process closer to its desired operating window.
And this opens up exciting possibilities:
Shorter production times - Improved and more consistent taste profiles - More reproducible fermentation processes - Better control of substrate consumption - Continuous optimization instead of fixed recipes
Research on water kefir already shows how strongly substrate concentration and fermentation conditions influence fermentation kinetics and the resulting metabolite profile.
With the fermSYS Buddy, we take the next step: turning this biological understanding into an intelligent, controllable process.
And this is where fermHUB - COPILOT will come in
Our core competence at fermSYS is the combination of biotechnology and AI.
We don't just collect data. We understand the biological process behind the data — and use that knowledge to determine what is happening, what is likely to happen next, and what action could improve the process.
The Buddy is therefore more than a dosing unit.
It is a small-scale demonstration of our vision for intelligent bioprocessing:
From static recipes to dynamic processes. From monitoring to understanding. From understanding to intelligent control.
And ultimately:
From fermentation automation to autonomous bioprocessing.
This is how we believe the next generation of fermentation processes will be built — one intelligent feeding strategy at a time.
#fermSYS #fermentation #waterkefir #biotechnology #AI #Bioprocessing #ProcessControl #FermentationTechnology #FoodTech #PrecisionFermentation #DigitalBioprocessing #COPILOT
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