TiltBridge - Tilt-to-WiFi Device for Tilt Hydrometer

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So ive been trying to find some hardware for the tilt bridge. I see some on amazon and heltec. But am wanting to buy 3-5 to build several for our brew club. I have bought parts from aliexpress in the past and that seems like the cheapest after shipping as you get stacking shipping there. Is this one compatible with the firmware? I like the addition wifi antenna as well for longer range.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256...!sea!US!3295362257&curPageLogUid=ZtgWN78WD95s
 
Speedracer said:
So ive been trying to find some hardware for the tilt bridge. I see some on amazon and heltec. But am wanting to buy 3-5 to build several for our brew club. I have bought parts from aliexpress in the past and that seems like the cheapest after shipping as you get stacking shipping there. Is this one compatible with the firmware? I like the addition wifi antenna as well for longer range.

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256...!sea!US!3295362257&curPageLogUid=ZtgWN78WD95s
Click to expand...
No, unfortunately. That’s based on an ESP32-S3, which a different chipset than TiltBridge is designed for.

If you see ESP32-C3, ESP32-S2, ESP32-S3, or ESP32-C6, it probably won’t work.
 
Has anyone tried the Particle Argon (Argon)? The specs say it has a ESP32. But what is most interesting is separate external antenna connections for WiFi and Bluetooth. This would allow an antenna inside a fermentation chamber for the Tilt and one outside the chamber for WiFi. I have not been able to find another ESP32 with two external antenna.
 
chuckgl said:
Has anyone tried the Particle Argon (Argon)? The specs say it has a ESP32. But what is most interesting is separate external antenna connections for WiFi and Bluetooth. This would allow an antenna inside a fermentation chamber for the Tilt and one outside the chamber for WiFi. I have not been able to find another ESP32 with two external antenna.
Click to expand...

The reason it has separate antennas is because it has separate processors for each as well. The issue is that TiltBridge is designed to run on a single (ESP32) processor — this would require adaptation to work on the nRF52840.
 
Thorrak said:
The reason it has separate antennas is because it has separate processors for each as well. The issue is that TiltBridge is designed to run on a single (ESP32) processor — this would require adaptation to work on the nRF52840.
Click to expand...
Bummer. I figured that was the case. Well back to the hunt for dual antenna then.
 
chuckgl said:
Bummer. I figured that was the case. Well back to the hunt for dual antenna then.
Click to expand...
@chuckgl , your thinking too much... (like I always do, and screw things up)
If you want the "Cadillac" version with a nice big screen, that can easily pick up the Hydrometer's signal in the tank, and then relay it up to your home base router (by way of TiltBridge) then just get the LOLIN D32 Pro V2.0.0, with the TFT 2.4" screen and Cable
($31.07includes shipping) Or, get the dirt cheap ones, with onboard screen, that are only $19.09 with shipping (LILYGO® TTGO T-Display 1.14 Inch LCD Control Board ESP32)
Even cheaper then dirt, are the ones with no screen. But you still can access the information through the assigned IP address after it is flashed and up.
Don't forget to look at the really nice cases that @Thorrak makes for the D32Pro, and others, on his sales website. So, we can help feed him beers at the Pub, and he can keep up on all the free hard work he does here, for us all to share.

​

 
chuckgl said:
Bummer. I figured that was the case. Well back to the hunt for dual antenna then.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, you aren’t going to find one. The problem is that the ESP32 is a single radio device, and therefore has a single antenna. There are designs with an attached (or attachable) uFL antenna connector which might work for you — but you’re only going to find ones that use a single antenna.
 
Speedracer said:
This one looks like it is a ESP32 only would yall agree?

https://www.aliexpress.us/item/2255...d49!10000000579104005!sh&gatewayAdapt=glo2usa
Click to expand...
Possibly! Hard to tell for certain, but it looks promising. It does have an attached LoRa chip, however, which TiltBridge won’t use. I can’t promise that the screen will work (the OLED screens don’t have a standard pin configuration) but this looks similar to the Heltec-style chips which others have reported success with.
 
Hi, I have a question. I have been successfully running the tiltbridge for a few months and it has been working great. However, recently I have had issues with it not finding the tilt even though my phone can from the same location. It was working this morning, then suddenly stopped and it can't find the tilt to reconnect it. I've tried resetting it and unplugging it, but both failed. I'm using a heltec board with V1.1.3 .
Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks!
 
jc587491 said:
Hi, I have a question. I have been successfully running the tiltbridge for a few months and it has been working great. However, recently I have had issues with it not finding the tilt even though my phone can from the same location. It was working this morning, then suddenly stopped and it can't find the tilt to reconnect it. I've tried resetting it and unplugging it, but both failed. I'm using a heltec board with V1.1.3 .
Any help would be appreciated!

Thanks!
Click to expand...
Phones have a MUCH better antenna than ESP devices, so that’s not shocking.

Does the TiltBridge detect the device when closer to your fermenter? If so, then it’s a signal attenuation problem — either buy or build a Tilt signal repeater if needed (you can build one using the same base chip as for TiltBridge, and the TiltBridge should pick it up) or move the TiltBridge closer.

Alternatively, does the TiltBridge periodically stop detecting the tilt, but will resume detecting it after a restart? When it stops detecting the signal, will it not detect it at all — no matter how long it is left — until after a restart? If so, let me know as that’s a particular Espressif bug I didn’t think TiltBridge suffered from.
 
Yeah, I was just stating that to eliminate it being an issue on the tilt side. Both devices were about 4" away from the side of the fermenter. I usually have it resting in a small plastic case on top of my glycol chiller next to the fermenter.

To give some more details, It was logging everything fine, then all of a sudden on the same batch it stopped logging and picking up the tilt. There was no activity in the brewery and there was no interruption to internet service. I did try to move it closer, to the point it was literally touching the side of the fermenter, but no luck.

It has done this a few times before but in the past it has always worked after I simply unplugged it and plugged it in again. This time, no amount of unplugging or resetting from the tiltbridge settings menu seem to work.

Also it has always suffered from the bug were the OLED screen does not work, no matter what version I flash. It hasn't bothered me so I never really cared about fixing that bug before. Haha!
 
jc587491 said:
Yeah, I was just stating that to eliminate it being an issue on the tilt side. Both devices were about 4" away from the side of the fermenter. I usually have it resting in a small plastic case on top of my glycol chiller next to the fermenter.
Click to expand...
What fermenter do you use?? My Ss Unitanks have a very thick skin, and the Tiltbridge will always work if I put it directly sitting on top, near the TC ports. But next to the tank, down low, the signal is too poor. The board also works over the top, sitting on another tank directly next to it, but never down low (under the beer-liquid level) See my avatar here, to get my setup picture.
What I am saying is - keep the Tiltbridge over the beer, not under the liquid level.
Hope this helps you.....
 
jc587491 said:
To give some more details, It was logging everything fine, then all of a sudden on the same batch it stopped logging and picking up the tilt. There was no activity in the brewery and there was no interruption to internet service. I did try to move it closer, to the point it was literally touching the side of the fermenter, but no luck.
Click to expand...
Tilt battery?
 
I just released v1.2.1 of the TiltBridge firmware, which includes a handful of bugfixes:

  • Resolves bug that could prevent toggling between temperature units (C to F / F to C)
  • Resolves bug that could prevent the TiltBridge logo from being displayed with the proper colors (Thanks @pletch )

If you aren't encountering any of the above issues, there is no reason to upgrade your firmware at this time. The updated firmware is available on BrewFlasher, BrewFlasher Web, and via Fermentrack.
 
Last edited:
Have a Lolin D32 Pro (WROVER, TFT) successfully flashed with TiltBridge: v1.1.3. It doesn't present the serial port any longer to the USB port - is this an expected behavior? Nothing shows up in Windows Device manager (no issues with other ESP devices).
The Tiltbridge "Factory Reset" doesn't help - doesn't get the device back to showing up on the USB port. I've tried multiple USB cables - any help out there? Apologies if I've missed a related post. Cheers.
 
CliffH said:
Have a Lolin D32 Pro (WROVER, TFT) successfully flashed with TiltBridge: v1.1.3. It doesn't present the serial port any longer to the USB port - is this an expected behavior? Nothing shows up in Windows Device manager (no issues with other ESP devices).
The Tiltbridge "Factory Reset" doesn't help - doesn't get the device back to showing up on the USB port. I've tried multiple USB cables - any help out there? Apologies if I've missed a related post. Cheers.
Click to expand...
Unfortunately, no. There is a separate USB-to-serial chip on the ESP32 boards that sounds like it may be busted (red box below):
D32 Pro CH340.jpg

100% of the USB functionality is handled by this separate chip for this board. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but my recommendation would be to order a new board when you can. :(
 
Thorrak said:
Unfortunately, no. There is a separate USB-to-serial chip on the ESP32 boards that sounds like it may be busted (red box below):
View attachment 822858

100% of the USB functionality is handled by this separate chip for this board. Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but my recommendation would be to order a new board when you can. :(
Click to expand...
Makes sense. Thank you for that. Should have asked earlier - could have saved wasting a few hours... :)
 
LBussy said:
Unless you have either changed computers since it worked last or the driver has been uninstalled by other software. Try installing these drivers:

https://www.silabs.com/developers/usb-to-uart-bridge-vcp-drivers
Click to expand...
So, I wasn't seeing the 'demand' for drivers - no 'Other devices' arriving to apply the drivers against. I happily installed the drivers mentioned but alas no difference. I did try the same PC as it was originally flashed with - along with a couple of others. It so looks like I'm using a power-only USB cable (I'm not) or the CH340 chip has indeed taken a dive.
 
As part of some upcoming work on Fermentrack, I've designed a standalone, docker-friendly Tilt daemon which I'm calling "TiltBridge Junior". This is not something that the vast majority of people need to know/care about, but for those select few who might want to turn their Raspberry Pi into a tilt receiver (but who don't want to install either Tilt Pi or Fermentrack) it might be helpful. The source code is on GitHub here.

Right now, it's specifically designed with an eye towards Fermentrack, but I'm happy for anyone interested to add other targets that are also supported in the ESP32 TiltBridge. It should work with BrewPi-Remix as well but I've not had a chance to test it (and lets be honest, if you're using BPR, why not just use the code @LBussy already has built in?).
 
I'm trying to create an account at tiltbridge. I filled in the sign-up portion and it said it sent me an email to confirm the address, but I never got one. I tried to just sign in, but it said the email had not been confirmed yet. I tried to reset the password, and it said it sent me an email, which I never received. Same thing happens on the phone app (android). Yes, I have the correct email entered. :)
 
Thorrak said:
It’s possible that I didn’t set the download correctly in BrewFlasher, or it’s possible that I mislabeled the version in the firmware.

That aside - what exactly were you experiencing with calibration?
Click to expand...
I too still have the issue where calibration equations disappear after a few days and so I have to go back and set them back up.
But if I don't notice it, then it mucks up my logging to Brewers Friend and there are too many data points to go back and edit.
I am running v1.1.3 [master] (e8240ef)
 
Sean Heffernan said:
I too still have the issue where calibration equations disappear after a few days and so I have to go back and set them back up.
But if I don't notice it, then it mucks up my logging to Brewers Friend and there are too many data points to go back and edit.
I am running v1.1.3 [master] (e8240ef)
Click to expand...
Is it only the calibration data that is being lost, or is it other configuration options as well?
 
I’m trying to flash my new TiltBridge using BrewFlasher desktop and the web version. The desktop never worked, it always said “Firmware flashing FAILED. esptool.py raised an error. Try flashing again, or try flashing with a slower speed.” I tried slower speeds and always got the same error - even at the lowest speed! The web version seems to have worked - at least it said it was successful and didn’t throw any errors. Although now it’s not creating the wifi point. Here are the details:

This is the hardware:
I connected the parts and connected it to a PC via USB and the light on the board started flashing. I started the BrewFlasher (v.1.5.2 for windows) app and used these options:

Serial Port- Auto-select port
Project - TitlBridge
Device Family - ESP32 (the only one available)
Firmware- TiltBridge - v1.2.1 - TFT
Baud Rate- 230400
Erase flash- Yes, wipes all data

This is the error log:

Verifying firmware list is up-to-date before downloading...
Downloading firmware...
Downloading partitions file...
Downloading SPIFFS/LittleFS file...
Downloading bootloader file...
Downloading otadata file...
Downloading main firmware file...
Downloaded successfully!

Command: esptool.py --chip esp32 --baud 74880 --before default_reset --after hard_reset write_flash 0x10000 C:\Users\kimpa\AppData\Local\Temp\firmware.bin 0x8000 C:\Users\kimpa\AppData\Local\Temp\partitions.bin 0x1000 C:\Users\kimpa\AppData\Local\Temp\bootloader.bin 0x330000 C:\Users\kimpa\AppData\Local\Temp\spiffs.bin 0xe000 C:\Users\kimpa\AppData\Local\Temp\otadata.bin --erase-all -fs detect

esptool.py v4.6.2
Found 1 serial ports
Serial port COM4
Connecting.......
Chip is ESP32-D0WD-V3 (revision v3.0)
Features: WiFi, BT, Dual Core, 240MHz, VRef calibration in efuse, Coding Scheme None
Crystal is 40MHz
MAC: c8:f0:9e:71:a0:10
Uploading stub...
Running stub...
Stub running...
Configuring flash size...
Auto-detected Flash size: 16MB
Erasing flash (this may take a while)...
Chip erase completed successfully in 0.0s
Compressed 12 bytes to 20...
Writing at 0x00010000... (100 %)
Wrote 12 bytes (20 compressed) at 0x00010000 in 0.0 seconds (effective 6.1 kbit/s)...
File md5: 0ebab0ef3c513282b156b91165674d34
Flash md5: 713e15afa2ab6727d6f09e517f5e7a25
MD5 of 0xFF is c1fa1f22fa36d331be4027e683baad06
Firmware flashing FAILED. esptool.py raised an error.

Try flashing again, or try flashing with a slower speed.


I tried slower speeds, and the BETA D32_Pro_TFT firmware and got the same errors.

I then tried using the web version of BrewFlasher with the same options as above and clicked on “Flash to Controller.” It started, showed it’s progress, finished a couple minutes later and said it was successful. The log said:


MicroPython v1.20.0-124-g17c3f6b6aa on 2023-05-08; LOLIN D32 PRO with ESP32
Type "help()" for more information.
>>> ets Jul 29 2019 12:21:46

rst:0x1 (POWERON_RESET),boot:0x37 (SPI_FAST_FLASH_BOOT)
configsip: 0, SPIWP:0xee
clk_drv:0x00,q_drv:0x00,d_drv:0x00,cs0_drv:0x00,hd_drv:0x00,wp_drv:0x00
mode:DIO, clock div:1
load:0x3fff0030,len:4560
load:0x40078000,len:14548
ho 0 tail 12 room 4
load:0x40080400,len:3928
entry 0x4008062c
MicroPython v1.20.0-124-g17c3f6b6aa on 2023-05-08; LOLIN D32 PRO with ESP32
Type "help()" for more information.


The thing is now it doesn’t seem to be creating the wifi point. It does not show up on the PC I did all of the above, my phone (android) nor a Chromebook. The screen on the board is blank as well, though, this may be normal at this point.

Any ideas, anyone?

Thanks!
 
phbern said:
I’m trying to flash my new TiltBridge using BrewFlasher desktop and the web version. The desktop never worked, it always said “Firmware flashing FAILED. esptool.py raised an error. Try flashing again, or try flashing with a slower speed.” I tried slower speeds and always got the same error - even at the lowest speed! The web version seems to have worked - at least it said it was successful and didn’t throw any errors. Although now it’s not creating the wifi point. Here are the details:

This is the hardware:
I connected the parts and connected it to a PC via USB and the light on the board started flashing. I started the BrewFlasher (v.1.5.2 for windows) app and used these options:

Serial Port- Auto-select port
Project - TitlBridge
Device Family - ESP32 (the only one available)
Firmware- TiltBridge - v1.2.1 - TFT
Baud Rate- 230400
Erase flash- Yes, wipes all data

This is the error log:

Verifying firmware list is up-to-date before downloading...
Downloading firmware...
Downloading partitions file...
Downloading SPIFFS/LittleFS file...
Downloading bootloader file...
Downloading otadata file...
Downloading main firmware file...
Downloaded successfully!

Command: esptool.py --chip esp32 --baud 74880 --before default_reset --after hard_reset write_flash 0x10000 C:\Users\kimpa\AppData\Local\Temp\firmware.bin 0x8000 C:\Users\kimpa\AppData\Local\Temp\partitions.bin 0x1000 C:\Users\kimpa\AppData\Local\Temp\bootloader.bin 0x330000 C:\Users\kimpa\AppData\Local\Temp\spiffs.bin 0xe000 C:\Users\kimpa\AppData\Local\Temp\otadata.bin --erase-all -fs detect

esptool.py v4.6.2
Found 1 serial ports
Serial port COM4
Connecting.......
Chip is ESP32-D0WD-V3 (revision v3.0)
Features: WiFi, BT, Dual Core, 240MHz, VRef calibration in efuse, Coding Scheme None
Crystal is 40MHz
MAC: c8:f0:9e:71:a0:10
Uploading stub...
Running stub...
Stub running...
Configuring flash size...
Auto-detected Flash size: 16MB
Erasing flash (this may take a while)...
Chip erase completed successfully in 0.0s
Compressed 12 bytes to 20...
Writing at 0x00010000... (100 %)
Wrote 12 bytes (20 compressed) at 0x00010000 in 0.0 seconds (effective 6.1 kbit/s)...
File md5: 0ebab0ef3c513282b156b91165674d34
Flash md5: 713e15afa2ab6727d6f09e517f5e7a25
MD5 of 0xFF is c1fa1f22fa36d331be4027e683baad06
Firmware flashing FAILED. esptool.py raised an error.

Try flashing again, or try flashing with a slower speed.


I tried slower speeds, and the BETA D32_Pro_TFT firmware and got the same errors.

I then tried using the web version of BrewFlasher with the same options as above and clicked on “Flash to Controller.” It started, showed it’s progress, finished a couple minutes later and said it was successful. The log said:


MicroPython v1.20.0-124-g17c3f6b6aa on 2023-05-08; LOLIN D32 PRO with ESP32
Type "help()" for more information.
>>> ets Jul 29 2019 12:21:46

rst:0x1 (POWERON_RESET),boot:0x37 (SPI_FAST_FLASH_BOOT)
configsip: 0, SPIWP:0xee
clk_drv:0x00,q_drv:0x00,d_drv:0x00,cs0_drv:0x00,hd_drv:0x00,wp_drv:0x00
mode:DIO, clock div:1
load:0x3fff0030,len:4560
load:0x40078000,len:14548
ho 0 tail 12 room 4
load:0x40080400,len:3928
entry 0x4008062c
MicroPython v1.20.0-124-g17c3f6b6aa on 2023-05-08; LOLIN D32 PRO with ESP32
Type "help()" for more information.


The thing is now it doesn’t seem to be creating the wifi point. It does not show up on the PC I did all of the above, my phone (android) nor a Chromebook. The screen on the board is blank as well, though, this may be normal at this point.

Any ideas, anyone?

Thanks!
Click to expand...

There's definitely some strange stuff going on in there. The fact that your logs reference MicroPython indicates that it definitely didn't flash correctly. Additionally, "Chip erase completed successfully in 0.0s" and "Compressed 12 bytes to 20..." indicate additional problems (the chip erase took 28.4s for me, and the firmware being flashed should be much larger than 20 bytes uncompressed).

I would try a couple things:
  • Try flashing the board at either 460800 bps or 115200 bps (I can personally attest that both of these work with this board, where other speeds might not
  • Try a different USB cable/port
  • Check your C:\Users\kimpa\AppData\Local\Temp\ folder and delete any .bin files you see there (e.g. firmware.bin, otadata.bin, etc.)
  • If you have one, try flashing another board
 
Thanks for your quick reply!

I tried all of your suggestions except for a different cable and different board because I have only one of each. I'll try getting a new cable today or tomorrow and try again. Then I'll try a different board (it took quite a while for it to get here).

I watched the error messages and they all came up with the problems you mention. Different ports, different speeds and erasing the .bin files between each try. I also tried the web version again and saw that it didn't write any of the .bin files, but that might be the way it's supposed to work.

You said that MicroPython indicates that it didn't flash correctly. The board I have is called "LOLIN D32 Pro V2.0.0 - wifi & bluetooth board based ESP-32 esp32 Rev1 ESP32-WROVER 16MB 8MB 4MB FLASH PSRAM MicroPython" It's the one linked to from the TiltBridge Hardware — TiltBridge documentation page.

Thanks for your help!
 
On the MicroPython thing, my thinking was simply that since none of my projects (and to my knowledge, none of the projects currently in BrewFlasher) use MicroPython, the fact that you're seeing a MicroPython message pop up indicates that the device is still running some other kind of firmware -- likely the "test" firmware that comes preinstalled on the device.

The only two other suggestions I can make are - if you haven't already - to try flashing the device without the cable/screen attached and to check from the computer that you are using to run BrewFlasher that you can access https://github.com/thorrak/tiltbridge/releases/download/v1.2.1/ . That is the URL that BrewFlasher is downloading the firmware from, so if you can't access that for some reason (or can't download the firmware linked there) then that would explain the difficulty that you're facing.
 
Bought the recommended parts from Aliexpress and it flashed and worked right away. However, after a few days the screen developed two one-pixel wide white vertical lines, separated by a one-pixel wide dark line (perhaps working normally?), roughly in line with the second "i" in "TiltBridge".

Anyone else experienced something like this? Any debugging suggestions before I start buying/swapping new parts and seeing when it goes away?
 

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