Edit:
We have a website setup for this project at http://www.brewtroller.com. Please visit us there for up to date information related to this project.
If anyone is interested we have completed a developmental release of the code for this project and we need testers. It does involve buying some hardware but it's pretty small cost up front for whats going to be a very powerful controller.
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Check out the group or PM me if your interested in testing.
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Current Rig
4.5KW E-HLT
5.5KW E-Kettle
MasterFlex Peristaltic Primary Pump
March Secondary Pump
Therminator for Chilling
Planned
Automated Grain Drop
Automated Hop Dropper
Yeah looks to be a much smaller version than what we have, we have 3 heat outputs, 11 valve/pump controls and room for 6 temp sensors. We also plan to add volume measurement for all the brewing equipment.
__________________
Current Rig
4.5KW E-HLT
5.5KW E-Kettle
MasterFlex Peristaltic Primary Pump
March Secondary Pump
Therminator for Chilling
Planned
Automated Grain Drop
Automated Hop Dropper
I have NO IDEA what you're sayin.... BUT, I LOVE the sound of your voice
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North Saint Paul Brewshack
Quote:
Originally Posted by jmendez29
Mom was right. Never argue with an idiot. They just drag you down to their level and beat you with experience.
Where's my beer. I know I left it around here somewhere.....
Kegged/Drinking:Nihilistic Integrity - Black IPA, #1 BIAB pale ale, Bells Two Hearted - yes a keg of the real stuff Kegged/Conditioning:Wally N Seans Braggot, Emerald Eyes - Irish Red, Atomic Tsunami - brown Primary:empty
SO I have read the thread over a bit, and looked at the seperate group postings but am still a bit confused....
I understand you are building a way to help automate a brew system, but it is the end goal interface I am confused by. (I am a picture person, all those words about the project confuse me).
Will the end user interface be self contained within the 4x20 LCD and associated buttons to navigate/enter user input.... or will it interface with a GUI on a computer? Or optional of either per the users choice? If interfaced with a PC, no need for the LCD...
Back before there were those nifty Ipod gizmos I had built an MP3 player for my car interfacing with a small computer in my car. I got pretty handy at building circuits and stuff, but did not possess the skill to program, so long story short I am a potential interested hardware/software tester but want a better understanding of the end goal....but cant code to save my life.
The concept is for the device to be stand alone with an eventual data logging feature that would allow you to download the data to a PC at a later time. I don't speak for the group but I was a part of the initial concept and design. It is my opinion that the BCS-460 looks like it does a great job if you're looking for a device that interfaces with a PC so there was no compelling reason to build a PC-slave system. Personally, I don't want a PC in my brewing area, I have enough crap there. So the idea of a stand-alone device that can get the job done with more features than just a couple Ranco controllers or PIDs is pretty much the idea.
That and it's all open source so you can modify the code (or get someone to modify the code) to fit your specific needs.
I'm interested, since I'm a software developer for embedded devices, but I don't really have any personal use for one of these at the moment. But I'll keep an eye on stuff and offer suggestions when I see things that look interesting.
There are a number fo savvy sorts of homebrewers who can build a custom controller for their brewery. It's been done and that's where we got the ideas from. What we wanted to accomplish is to create something that could meet the needs of most brewers looking for control and precision, do it without breaking the bank and not require coding skills on behalf of the user. We ended up with a menu driven appliance (no computer necessary) that operates much like an iPod with a rotary control that is used to scroll through menus or adjust levels. Clicking down on the rotary acts as an Enter key. Holding Enter for over a second and releasing acts as a Cancel or Escape.
This development release includes the Brew Monitor which monitors the temperature of up to six temperature inputs (HLT, Mash, Kettle, CFC H2O IN, CFC H2O Out and CFC Beer Out) and controls the heat output for the HLT and Mash. Each of the heat outputs can be set to On/Off mode with a 1F hysteresis or PID mode using a 4 second cycle time adjusting the output from 0-100% (50% would turn the output on for 2s and off for 2s, 75% On 3s, off 1s, etc.) These values used in each mode are hardcoded currently but we will likely make them adjustable in a future release.
The main goal of the project is the AutoBrew mode. AutoBrew would walk through a series of stages (some optional) such as filling, preheat, dough-in, protein rest, acid rest, saccharifaction rest, mash out, sparge, boil and chill. Each stage would have one or more valve configurations associated with it. For example the various mash stages would have one configuration used for mash heat cycles (ie Valve outputs 1, 3 and 7 on) and one used for mash 'standby' cycles (perhaps recirculating the mash but bypassing a HERM coil).
We also intend to add volume measurement of the kettle, HLT and mash tun using pressure transducers that can measure 0-40 inches of H2O pressure. Standard calculations for strike temperature as well as mash and sparge volume are also planned.
What we need most right now are testers who can validate functionality and make suggestions to improve the interface. We could also benefit from documentation including user guildes and implementation guides. We have a WiKi on GoogleCode that we'd like to use for this.
Oh and Brewtroller is open source. We may sell components to ease implementation for users but everything we do including code and circuit board layouts are freely available for do-it-yourselfers.
Linear Mode
