Designing a custom PCB that drives programmable, consistent LED light patterns on beer taps
Client: Taplite
Industry: Consumer Goods
Service: PCB Design, Electronics Engineering, Embedded Software
Taplite brings visual identity to the bar, lighting up individual beer taps with distinct, customisable light patterns that help customers instantly identify different brands. SPINNOV developed the PCB and embedded software that make those patterns possible: a programmable LED array engineered to deliver consistent, reliable lighting across every tap it's fitted to.
Client & Goal
In a busy bar or brewery, the tap handle is the last point of decision for a customer. Taplite's product makes that moment clearer and more visually engaging, by illuminating each tap with a light pattern that's distinct to the brand it serves.
The goal was to develop the electronics that power this: a compact PCB with a programmable LED array that could be fitted behind a tap, run its programmed pattern consistently, and do so reliably in the environment of a working bar.
The lighting needed to be customisable per brand and consistent across units, so that the same pattern looked the same on every tap running the same product, regardless of where or when it was installed.
Challenge
Consistency is harder to achieve than it sounds when it comes to LEDs at scale. Variations in component tolerances, power supply fluctuations, and the physical constraints of fitting electronics into a tap housing all affect how light is rendered in practice.
Getting every unit to produce the same visual output required careful PCB design and firmware that managed LED behaviour precisely, not just at first boot, but continuously during operation.
The solution also had to be practical to manufacture and install. A PCB designed for a bar environment needs to be compact, robust, and straightforward to fit, the engineering couldn't solve one problem by creating another at the installation stage.
SPINNOV’s
A programmable LED PCB for consistent, customisable tap lighting
At the end of the engagement, Taplite received:
Custom PCB design: compact hardware engineered to fit within a tap housing and drive the LED array reliably
Programmable LED array: supporting customisable light patterns configurable per beer brand or product
Embedded firmware: controlling LED behaviour with consistency across units and throughout continuous operation
Full technical documentation covering hardware design, firmware logic, and installation specifications
Taplite's lighting system now runs behind beer taps in bars and breweries, turning each tap into a clear, branded visual signal, powered by electronics built to stay consistent, shift after shift.