Design and Layout

I'm planning to do a complete brew and ferm controller package. What is suggested for planning and designing the final layout of all of the hardware?

I can see:
power supplies (yes more than 1),
Arduino,
shields,
relays,
GLCD,
buttons,
encoder,
lights,
wires,
external communication links,
etc.

I've not done any electronic layout and design, and I have zero experience with DIN. I have built a computer or two, from scratch.

Plus I'm starting small and building a bit at a time, so it needs to be scalable and modular.

I would also like to interface with a computer (maybe).

Please help with suggestions.

Take a look at my thread on my build Im working on. Its gonna be an electric Arduino (with android support as well) brutus 20. Heres the link https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f235/android-controlled-electric-brewery-part-1-a-340032/

Right now Its just the control panel of it. Once I finish im going to post a parts list for it.

Adeering, are you using Eagle for design? I'm very much a newbie to electronics, and I cannot see where I'm headed in terms of the macro-view of all of this hardware put together, all in one place, in one way nor another.

Electronic books? Web pages?

So as a newbie to the hardware side of free-wheeling (as opposed to PC-based) electronics projects, I've been searching the Web for finalized electronics projects. I'm trying to get a glimpse of the final project. As Covey says, "Begin with the end in mind." So.........

1. Thank goodness there are other electronics dummies in the world, other than me, to enable this wonderful web page and web site:

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/conte...-step-5-enclose-your-circui.navId-810952.html

http://www.dummies.com/how-to/consumer-electronics/electronics/Electronics-Projects.html

2. I went to "How to Build an Enclosure" at: http://mods-n-hacks.wonderhowto.com/how-to/build-enclosure-box-for-your-electronics-projects-364095/ It's a good video...Reminds me of the days when I built my own speaker boxes.

3. Then to http://www.instructables.com/answers/Can-anyone-give-some-simple-tips-on-how-to-build-s/ Terribly simple advice on enclosure possibilities, hardly worth the effort. Even I knew many of these things.

4. Here is a Web page entitled DIY Enclosures http://www.electronics-lab.com/blog/?p=447. I like the idea of a hole already pre-opened in the case for power supply. But apparently that can be inconvenient without some careful planning. Be aware that this site uses a lot of lingo, abbreviations, and terminology that will mean very little to newbies.

5. There are a lot of enclosures out there. Here are a few: http://www.polycase.com/ But this organization is about selling these enclosures to big time electronics commercialized projects.

6. Believe it or not ;-) eBay has a few as well: http://www.ebay.com/sch/sis.html?_n...Case Electronic DIY New &_itemId=220956293929

7. Here is an interesting enclosure: http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2010-03/build-clock-uses-atomic-timekeeping

8. And about this "DIN" stuff. which apparently is an abbreviation for Deutsches Institut für Normung eV [In English that would be German Institute for Standardization (not GIS, that is something else)], that organization is similar to the US ANSI. Here is a nice DIN mini-box: http://resources.mini-box.com/online/M350/index.html Are there ANSI enclosures? Maybe that's NEMA, not sure?

9. These DIN mounting rails have me confused, I can't even explain why?!?!? What are they? Can they be enclosed?

10. Apparently Grainger has enclosures, brackets, and kits. But, I must confess, some of these brackets look confusing. How does it all fit together? (Apparently Grainer sell everything, and I thought they just sold blowers.)

11. If you have not had a look at JonW's work posted here in HBT, then it is time....!!!! Check it out: http://cdn.homebrewtalk.com/attachm...p-bcs-462-automated-rig-brew_stand_wiring.jpg Now that is some serious layout there! Makes me smile :-D

So, I'm starting to get the idea, but I still cannot envision the size or the "guts" of my box. So many choices.

I think I'll have a brew.

Based on my professional experience in the construction industry, I believe I need to create four planning drawings:
1. A piping schematic;
2. A wiring schematic, complete for both electronics and electricity;
3. A complete layout of the brew structure with hardware attached;
4. A layout of electronics and electricity.

Thoughts?

SMc0724 said:

Based on my professional experience in the construction industry, I believe I need to create four planning drawings:
1. A piping schematic;
2. A wiring schematic, complete for both electronics and electricity;
3. A complete layout of the brew structure with hardware attached;
4. A layout of electronics and electricity.

Thoughts?

Click to expand...

I basically did this using iDraw and layers (mash, sparge, whirlpool, cleaning, electrical, plumbing, and a resource/parts layer).

I have a single tier no-weld, 2 pump, gas fired setup. I plan to monitor more than automate and have an Arduino MEGA 2560 I'm playing with along with a couple DS18S20 sensors.

In terms of enclosures NEMA is a rating for enclosures to specify how well they can handle adverse environments. There are different levels depending on how well it can handle the environment its put in. If you want a waterproof enclosure you may end up using one that is NEMA rated.

DIN is simply a standard way to mount things either in an enclosure or on a wall. You mount a DIN rail to something and then you can mount various DIN mountable devices to it depending on how long the DIN rail is. I have seen a number of people on HBT that use DIN rails to mount circuit breakers and other stuff on the inside of their enclosures. In some cases you can cram more stuff into an enclosure by using a DIN rail instead of individually mounting different things to the back of the enclosure.

Hammond manufacturing is a company that makes a bunch of different enclosures that work great for electronics. You can also take a look at Digikey and mouser to see what they have. They are rather large electronic components distributors and have pretty much anything you are looking for related to electronics.

In terms of planning and executing a design you first need to have a good understanding of what you want to do. You say you want a complete brew and ferm control system but what do you actually mean by that. For the brew side I am assuming you want to have temp control but are you planning on automating valves for fluid transfer as well. I would suggest creating a one line statement that concisely states your end goal. From there create a high level set of features or requirements that show how you will achieve your one line goal. Now comes the fun part where you can look at each feature and decide or learn how to implement it.

My first thoughts are to split the ferm control and the brew control into 2 separate devices. You will be running ferm control all the time whereas your brew control will only be running while you are brewing. If you left you brew control hooked up all the time you would be subject to having a bug in you ferm controller accidentally turning on a pump or heating element when you aren't home which could be very dangerous.