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jlvgolf

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I've been away from home brewing for the past two years while I've lived internationally, but I'm moving back to NYC this month so I'm starting to plan out my future system.

I've wanted to build an electric system for a while since I'm an apartment dweller and it just seems better to me than propane (especially considering how hard it is to get a tank in Manhattan), but I decided to take a different route from a physical control panel and design an Arduino and webpage based control and monitoring program.

I've reached a point where I feel that I can share the results, as I'm happy with the functionality and I feel ok about the design (could probably use some work there) so I'm posting this out here for feedback and offering up the code for anyone with an Arduino who wants to try it out (just on a prototype board, let's not get too crazy).

The screenshot below shows the system in action. It's controlling a live board on my home network, that's hooked up to some relays and LEDs to test the features. With this system, you can tell the equipment what elements/pumps should be on, control a PID for the HLT/MLT, adjust boil power settings, monitor temperatures and also set a timer. There's a calculator for preheat/mash-in settings too.

ssu0.jpg


The most recent version of the webpage is available at this link. It works, but it isn't controlling anything. I think the site looks best in a 4:3 resolution, specifically an iPad, which is what I aimed for when setting up the layout.

http://c9.io/jlvnyc/brewboard/workspace/index.htm

And finally, the workspace below has the access if you'd like to see the Arduino code as well as the HTML/CSS/Javascript. It's probably not even remotely good code, but this is the first time I've done any programming since high school C++. Unfortunately, I think you may need to sign up for Cloud9 to view the code. I'll move it to google code or github at some point, but that's another project for another day. You can still view the webpage (the link above) without signing up.

http://c9.io/jlvnyc/brewboard/

Happy to hear any feedback or comments about the idea/execution/etc... I'm really looking forward to getting back to brewing (and building a system), but I wanted to share the idea as I've learned a lot from the things I've read from all the experienced homebrewers here.

Cheers!

Justin
 
Tried to copy the code from the IDE, after creating an account, but not able to. Can view all files but not copy files to my computer. Not familiar with cloud9. Have been looking into doing something like this for some time, and would love to try your code. Is there a way to download the code or is it read only?
 
I am just starting to look at the arduino stuff what would you recomend for a starter set that will keep an individual that is more brew oriented interested?
 
Hey jlvgolf, sorry for resurrecting an older post.

I was able to get onto the cloud9 site and copy/paste the code for each page out. The web interface looks good, simple but effective. :)

I have an Arduino Yun that I am hoping to set up as both the web server to host the html pages as well as control the arduino mcu which will be wired to the necessary relays for heat and pump, and a temp probe. I will have to make some changes to the arduino and html code to take advantage of the bridge library that allows the linux side of the Yun to talk directly to the arduino side.

Before I start diving into this code I was wondering if you have made any major changes/improvements to this since first posting that are not reflected on the cloud9 repo?

I'll post back if I am able to get anything working on the arduino Yun.
Thanks again!
-mysd
 
mysd,

I haven't made any changes. I'm glad you liked the HTML side. Unfortunately, the apartment I moved into doesn't have the proper electricity setup for this system so I'm just brewing on my stove. Which works great, but isn't quite as technologically advanced (so not as fun).

I'm not familiar with the Yun, but my biggest problem was SRAM limitations in the UNO. More than 32 Kbytes would be nice so you don't have to trim the libraries. I would have liked to add data logging too, but there just wasn't enough space.

Let me know if you have questions or issues with the setup!


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew
 
Snccoulter,

I would recommend a MEGA (because the UNO is really memory limited when working with Ethernet projects) and the Ethernet board. Also, get some LEDs, a few breadboards and jumper wires (or just one of the starter kits). I find you can learn stuff more easily when you have some hardware to play with. Adafruit.com has a lot of great resources and the arduino forum is very useful.

Sorry for the super delayed response!


Sent from my iPad using Home Brew
 
No problem I ended up getting a PI a few weeks ago and have been playing with it. So far I have a thermometer reading through SSH to my primary computer and have been trying to get a LED display to work. I found Adafruit it is great.
 
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