Portafilter basket analysis software by John Weiss

Decent Espresso hired John Weiss in 2016 to write a espresso filter basket analysis software program for us.

The program is entirely open source and patent free.

We use this software to quality-control the portafilter baskets we sell. You can too, as well as any other basket manufacturers that care to.

John Weiss was happy for us to share his work, and thus here it is, for anyone who wants to do something with it. Please give credit to Weiss and Decent if you do anything public with this.

The software compiles on Windows and Linux. There is a Windows binary precompiled, below.

PDF manual: basket analysis software

MS Word manual: basket analysis software

Source code: basket analysis software

Windows binary: basket analysis software

Weiss writes:

Filter basket images that work well with my software feature a dark basket on a light background (see manual example above). A light box with copy stand is ideal, but you can get decent results using a flashlight app that turns on the screen of your phone/tablet. Place the basket (upside down) on the screen and take a picture with your camera from directly above the basket. You will probably need to use a tripod (due to low illumination), but it's a handy substitute for a bona fide light box.

Here's a Python script to plot filter basket hole size distribution, so you don't have to do it "manually" in a spreadsheet:

Python script to plot filter basket hole size dist

Usage: python fba.py basket.png ... (other fba parameters)

Requirements:

1. Python matplotlib.pyplot (pip install matplotlib)

2. fba executable (fba on Linux, fba.exe on Windoze)

3. Correctly exposed filter basket image in PNG format

Sample runs: