Automated bottling

[scaryeyes]

Hi!
Im building an automated bottling system. The only hold up is really the flow meter. Im gonna use a hall effect flow sensor, but I think im gonna control it with arduino board. Or maybe its better to go with a PLC to control all valves and the flowmeter? I dont know if its possible to program a PLC for that task?
The solenoid valves are easy in PLC, but maybe I can do it all with arduino instead?
Someone here must have done it already, thats why I put the question here.

cheers!

 

[day_trippr]

Many of us are running the tap list RaspberryPints with SwissFlow SF800 flow meters, which if set up properly are crazy accurate. The meters are interfaced through an Arduino 328P (eg: Uno R3) using a simple interrupt-driven sketch, which creates a pour message then sent to a host computer (eg: Raspberry Pi) where it is inserted into the tap list database that the display draws from.

So I think one could use an Arduino to control solenoids and handler mechanicals and meter a precise fill without much trouble...

Cheers!

 

[BeardedBrews]

You could just use mass, a load cell with sufficient precision should be relatively cheap and simple to integrate.

I suppose you may have constraints on what you put under your bottles.

 

[Stainlessbrown]

IFM Efector has a great mag meter that we have sold to a number of breweries here in California. No moving parts and the 1", 1.5" and 2" are true sanitary, fractional sizes are thread connection (or compression). They will work as a stand alone batch totalizer, or can send 4:20 to a PLC

 

[steveastrouk]

If you used something like a Crouzet Milliennium III, they are easy to program, and also have a tachometer code you can use to measure your flow rate. There are inputs you could use to create setpoints.

 

[BigIrukandji]

Please put together a tutorial on this with a detailed parts list. I am highly interesting in building this out.

 

[starsman20]

I would also like to understand how you are doing this.

 

[msinko]

Everything you mentioned is easily accomplished using an Arduino. While I haven't built an automated bottling system(yet), I have built other systems using Arduinos, solenoid valves, flow meters, temp sensors, etc. I can point you in the right direction if you wish to go down that road. Also, take a look at Atlas Scientific flow meter part # SEN-206F. They cost a bit more than Swissflow but they are readily available, ship quickly and use standard NPT fittings, unlike swissflow which use hard to find BSPP fittings.

 

[Brewnoob703]

I was going to automate my brew using an arduino, however I was going to simply use a timer function like millis() to meter flow. I'm not trying to bottle, I'm using it for batch sparging so my tolerances on the amount of liquid moved isn't as tight, however I would think that so long as I tested and knew how many millis() it took to pump a certain amount it could be fairly accurate. Has anyone tried it this way and will it work?

 

[scaryeyes]

Everything you mentioned is easily accomplished using an Arduino. While I haven't built an automated bottling system(yet), I have built other systems using Arduinos, solenoid valves, flow meters, temp sensors, etc. I can point you in the right direction if you wish to go down that road. Also, take a look at Atlas Scientific flow meter part # SEN-206F. They cost a bit more than Swissflow but they are readily available, ship quickly and use standard NPT fittings, unlike swissflow which use hard to find BSPP fittings.

I was thinking of one of these. I already use one with a simple plc and a solenoid from ali:


https://www.aliexpress.com/item/201..._8&btsid=b39c5b12-6286-41c8-980b-0c2576ca64be

The thin is, it needs to be cheap. And Im gonna build it my self. Nothing commersial here, just homebrew

So keep on pointing in the direction that seems right!

 

[AutoDog]

IFM Efector has a great mag meter that we have sold to a number of breweries here in California. No moving parts and the 1", 1.5" and 2" are true sanitary, fractional sizes are thread connection (or compression). They will work as a stand alone batch totalizer, or can send 4:20 to a PLC

Stainlessbrown,

Can you share a part number on the IFM Efector sensor? Any idea what the ballpark pricing is on this guy?

Thanks!
-AD

 

[BigIrukandji]

Wouldn't there need to be a counter pressure system like the ones on the professional bottling machines? I think you'd need that to prevent foam overs.

 

[scaryeyes]

Things changed today dramaticly. I got a 32 channel PLC for free at work. So PLC it is. Its very easy to program, just to find out how many pulses for a 33 cl bottle. Then the rest is done with relays that are commanded from the PLC. Need to find two presure meters for the counter pressure system and solenoids.
I will come back to this in a little while when my lagering tanks are finished.

 

[starsman20]

Can you post the mechanics. To me the controls is the easy part. Unless what you are doing is just the timeing of the flow and still hand putting in the filling mechanism and manually capping.....

 

[scaryeyes]

Well, yes its a hand job most of it. For now.
This build is a 3 step process. First step is like put one bottle at a time for filling, then move it by hand for capping.
Next step is a conveyor to move the bottles from sanitation to bottling, automated by the PLC.
Last step will be capping in automation.

 

[sensei247]

@scaryeyes

Well, yes its a hand job most of it. For now.
This build is a 3 step process. First step is like put one bottle at a time for filling, then move it by hand for capping.
Next step is a conveyor to move the bottles from sanitation to bottling, automated by the PLC.
Last step will be capping in automation.

Did you get anywhere with this bottling machine? Super interested...

 

[CodeSection]

@scaryeyes

Did you get anywhere with this bottling machine? Super interested...

You probably will not receive answer since the person was last seen December 18, 2016......