Arduino + Labview Kit?

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mikey_d05

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I cringe at introductions on forums, but I feel that an explanation for the title is in order.

I dislike writing code. No particular reason, I love hardware, I've just never liked digging around in the software side of things. That being said, I spent a lot of time mucking around in Labview as a grad student. I've steered clear of any Arduino/Pi/Beagle projects simply because I didn't want to mess with Linux and command lines constantly. However, the Arduino/Labview package has me extremely interested. I'm not scared of building a control panel with switches, ssr's, indicators, etc. But, being a hardware nerd, I'm looking to start acquiring parts to work toward a semi-automated brewing process.

I took a look at the Brewmaster controller setup, and it reminded me a LOT of some of the labview interfaces I've built. I have enough components laying around on the PC side that building something that only needed to support labview would be free or extremely cheap. Hook it up to a UPS to keep the Arduino and PC running without interruption and a LOT of hours later I've got something that's versatile, I can mod on the fly, and should control most everything I want it to.

I'm an extract & BIAB brewer with no real desire to go all-grain but with some custom tweaks in mind as far as the mash, boil, and cooling process go. I don't think I'll be happy with a boxed solution but I also think I'd be easily frustrated by starting with an Arduino/Pi/Beagle without a real GUI that I can easily "wire" inputs/outputs with visually.

What say the HBT crowd? It's only $50 at SparkFun, so cost isn't an issue. Would a GUI-programmable Arduino make for a good brew controller candidate?
 
Having used LabView for an automation project in college, I'd say yes. You will still need a bit of work on the physical controlling components, but with all the arduino automation builds I'm sure that won't be an issue.

I am right with you on code... but the arduino basics are easy to pick up.
 
I looked into this for my system a while back. I ran it off of a labview + ardiuno mega and it seemed to work just fine but my access to labview ended after graduation. Labview costs about $1000 to get it legally without being a student or use it at work. I ended up just writting the code in C++ and used an LCD display for the temps.

Thats just the route i went because I was considering a more "mass production" for a engineering design class. Easier access for the user.
 
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