TiltBridge - Tilt-to-WiFi Device for Tilt Hydrometer

[danb35]

Is there any way to upgrade to 1.2.2 and retain your configuration? Or do I need to just reconfigure after flashing?

 

[Thorrak]

At the moment, the only way to retain your settings would be to manually flash only the firmware partition using esptool. Unless you are already familiar with esptool I would say it’s generally more trouble than it’s worth.

With that in mind, unless you use MQTT or Grainfather you can probably skip this version. It’s the latest and greatest, but it’s not universally needed.

 

[danb35]

Ah, but I do use MQTT--though I haven't noticed any problems with it as yet. OTOH, redoing the configuration isn't that big of a dea...

 

[Markus Peter]

@Thorrak , But why does the OLED display on the ESP32 sitting on top of the fermentor,outside, show the Tilt's gravity that is in the conical? Also, Tiltbridge.local shows the Tilt hydrometer reading on any computer on my home network. But, Fermentrack does not show the reading of the Tilt (see my post above)
This readout diapered as soon as I closed up the fermentor from Open to a closed fermentation. I tried uninstall and then reinstall but still no reading on Fermentrack dashboards,
Thanks for your input and explaining this to me!

I had exactly the same issue as you described with my current batch. Having a TiltPro logging to Brewfather via Tiltbridge. After 8 days of loggin happily, Brewfather just stopped updating. Tried everything - restarting Tiltbridge, reattaching it to Brewfather, even tried second Tiltbridge I had lying around. Same results: Sg and temp on LCD screen, Sg, temp and battery age in tiltbridge.local but no logging to Brewfather. Last night I flashed the latest v1.2.2 version (up from v1.1.3) using BrewFlasher. Went through all initial setup stages. Happy to report that this solved the issue. It’s now logging again to the same batch
Just strange this happened during an active fermentation

 

[Thorrak]

I can only speculate as to what caused the issue you experienced, but I can confirm that the latest release contains a massive rewrite of the data sending code which fixed a number of problems - potential or otherwise - under the hood. Upgrading is definitely recommended if you have any problems with sending data.

 

[matt_m]

Is there support for managing certs? Even better, for managing them programmatically? I use LetsEncrypt to generate a wildcard cert for all my internal services.

 

[Thorrak]

For the TiltBridge device web portal? No - but it doesn’t support HTTPS.

The TiltBridge configuration portal really shouldn’t be exposed to the open internet. The idea is that you set it up to point to an external service and then access that.

 

[matt_m]

Ah, OK, I misunderstood, you mean outbound connections to https not the web app itself.

 

[Thorrak]

Ah, OK, I misunderstood, you mean outbound connections to https not the web app itself.

Exactly. Sorry for any confusion!

 

[matt_m]

Looks like its working great. My batteries were right at 2 years old--changed them out immediately!

 

[Ramsfield]

@Thorrak I am trying to login to an account I made some time ago. However, it says my email has not been verified, but I don't recall getting an email and I don't see an option to resend. Can you assist with this?

 

[Thorrak]

@Thorrak I am trying to login to an account I made some time ago. However, it says my email has not been verified, but I don't recall getting an email and I don't see an option to resend. Can you assist with this?

Apologies - what site are you trying to log into?

 

[Ramsfield]

Apologies - what site are you trying to log into?

I am trying to login to https://tiltbridge.web.app and also the android app

 

[Thorrak]

I am trying to login to https://tiltbridge.web.app and also the android app

Ahhh - understood. Those are (were?) maintained by @UncleD who unfortunately hasn’t been around as much as of late.

For the web app, I’m currently developing TiltBridge/gravity support for Fermentrack.net which will be the new, “native” cloud data target. This requires both a rewrite of chunks of TiltBridge as well as work in Fermentrack 2, so unfortunately it’s likely at least ~2 months away (though my schedule is going to be funky for the next month which could shift the timeline in either direction).

For the Android/iPhone apps, unfortunately no replacement is currently planned. I may be able to reach out to @UncleD and take over maintenance for those, but until I get Fermentrack 2 fully released, I won’t have bandwidth to make any updates/feature enhancements.

 

[Ramsfield]

Ahhh - understood. Those are (were?) maintained by @UncleD who unfortunately hasn’t been around as much as of late.

For the web app, I’m currently developing TiltBridge/gravity support for Fermentrack.net which will be the new, “native” cloud data target. This requires both a rewrite of chunks of TiltBridge as well as work in Fermentrack 2, so unfortunately it’s likely at least ~2 months away (though my schedule is going to be funky for the next month which could shift the timeline in either direction).

For the Android/iPhone apps, unfortunately no replacement is currently planned. I may be able to reach out to @UncleD and take over maintenance for those, but until I get Fermentrack 2 fully released, I won’t have bandwidth to make any updates/feature enhancements.

@Thorrak I appreciate you taking the time to respond. Thank you for the overview and update.

 

[phbern]

I finally got around to updating - I use Grainfather. I went on https://web.brewflasher.com/ and used the Tiltbridge, ESP32 and Titlbridge v.1.2.2 OLED options. The update seemed to go fine, no error messages anyhow. Now, however, there is no display on the device - it's lit, but no text as before. Also it only seems to update in GF once. If I unplug it and plug it back in, it will update, but only once. I used the Tiltbridge for a full fermentation once before the update and it worked great. Any ideas on what might be wrong? Thanks!

 

[phbern]

I finally got around to updating - I use Grainfather. I went on https://web.brewflasher.com/ and used the Tiltbridge, ESP32 and Titlbridge v.1.2.2 OLED options. The update seemed to go fine, no error messages anyhow. Now, however, there is no display on the device - it's lit, but no text as before. Also it only seems to update in GF once. If I unplug it and plug it back in, it will update, but only once. I used the Tiltbridge for a full fermentation once before the update and it worked great. Any ideas on what might be wrong? Thanks!

Well, I re-flashed using the windows app and that went fine. However, the screen is still blank (though lit). I have discovered that the tracking will update on Grainfather only when I open the Tilt app on my phone. I tried re-setting up the wifi and it now says it has no internet (my wifi works just fine and the TiltBridge shows up on it).

 

[RocketBrewer]

Hey Thorrak,
I had to reflash my Tiltbridge (LOLIN D32 Pro + TFT). After reconfiguring everything all seems to be working fine except for the link to my google sheet. When I enter the beer name in the google sheets settings page, it creates the google sheet fine and I get an email link to it, but when I click on the beer name on the home page, I get the following message...

Not a huge deal, as I can follow the email link, but wondered if you might know what's wrong.
Thanks

 

[Thorrak]

Google probably changed something with their payloads. I’m working on a new major release for TiltBridge at the moment ahead of Fermentrack.net integration — I’ll make sure to test this before I release that. Thank you!

 

[Scarabrew]

Ahhh - understood. Those are (were?) maintained by @UncleD who unfortunately hasn’t been around as much as of late.

For the web app, I’m currently developing TiltBridge/gravity support for Fermentrack.net which will be the new, “native” cloud data target. This requires both a rewrite of chunks of TiltBridge as well as work in Fermentrack 2, so unfortunately it’s likely at least ~2 months away (though my schedule is going to be funky for the next month which could shift the timeline in either direction).

For the Android/iPhone apps, unfortunately no replacement is currently planned. I may be able to reach out to @UncleD and take over maintenance for those, but until I get Fermentrack 2 fully released, I won’t have bandwidth to make any updates/feature enhancements.

Same problem here.

Any direction we should take at this point (using Fermentrack or Tiltbridge)?

 

[Thorrak]

Although I was hoping to get a TiltBridge major release in before year end, Espressif and Platformio had other plans. That said, we’re back on track, and so I can go back to working on features rather than having to poke at things behind the scenes.

With that said, I expect to have a beta announcement for the next major version of TiltBridge very soon. This beta will bring a new user interface to the device as well as a number of tweaks behind the scenes - including the first draft of support for Fermentrack 2.

Unfortunately, in resolving the issues I mention in the above blog post, I realized that I need to start being judicious about which libraries I rely on for specific hardware support, and therefore need to rationalize the hardware I target. Although I don’t yet know enough to make any official decisions, I expect that at some point in the future I may need to drop support for OLED screens. If you are planning a new build - and care about the screen - I highly recommend looking at one of the other screen options just to be safe.

 

[Thorrak]

As part of preparing the next TiltBridge release I wanted to do some testing to see if I wanted to reimplement calibration. As part of this I figured it was as good a time as any to go through and do more general testing of the accuracy of my Tilts. I've only just started the experiment, but have already seen some results from the initial calibration:

I've got a full write-up of the experiment so far (including background on how I'm doing the test) in a post over on my blog. The mixture is currently fermenting (hopefully?) at the moment -- more to come as the fermentation picks up!

 

[Thorrak]

Hopefully turned out to be right, as actively fermenting the mixture was not. Oh well. Nothing a little Lalvin 71-B can't fix.

Part 2 of my Tilt accuracy experiment is coming soon -- just a week behind schedule.

 

[mijaba]

Hey @Thorrak good morning!

I'm happy to see that you are moving forward with TiltBridge project.

I’ve finished version 2 of my TiltBridge box, and I’ll be documenting the project very soon. The main updates compared to the previous version are two: I’m now using inserts that provide a stiff end, and there are a couple of magnets that allow you to stick the box to your fermentation fridge.

During the development of that box, I’ve been thinking for a while about a crazy idea: what if we integrate these round capacitive screens with TiltBridge and LVGL graphics? For instance, we could swipe through Tilt readings just by touching the screen. The screen is relatively cheap, and the box could take on an awesome shape.

Well, just sharing my thoughts…

 

[mijaba]

I’ve been looking into this board as an option for the project, and it seems promising.

This tiny board has both a touchscreen and an ESP32 module with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi capabilities, a 1S LiPo battery charging interface... all for less than 20 bucks. I’ve just purchased one and started experimenting with the project using VSC and PlatformIO to see how far I can get. I’ll share any progress with you.

 

[Thorrak]

I’ve finished version 2 of my TiltBridge box, and I’ll be documenting the project very soon. The main updates compared to the previous version are two: I’m now using inserts that provide a stiff end, and there are a couple of magnets that allow you to stick the box to your fermentation fridge.

View attachment 869722
View attachment 869723

That case looks amazing! I'm a huge fan of the inserts, and love the banana logo. Let me know when you've finished your write up if you choose to release the design files, and I'll link to them from the hardware repo.

During the development of that box, I’ve been thinking for a while about a crazy idea: what if we integrate these round capacitive screens with TiltBridge and LVGL graphics? For instance, we could swipe through Tilt readings just by touching the screen. The screen is relatively cheap, and the box could take on an awesome shape.

Well, just sharing my thoughts…

View attachment 869725

Oooooh that looks like it could be an interesting build! I'm conflicted on this one. I agree with you: This would look amazing, and I certainly think that there's an opportunity to do more with the display than I do currently -- especially with the upcoming Fermentrack 2 integration -- but I worry that this would increase the ongoing maintenance burden for the project.

Right now, I have six sets of hardware that I build for and test against, and this would create a seventh at a minimum. Once a new platform is added, dropping support means that someone is going to be left with hardware they can't upgrade, and that's never a good feeling for a user.

With that in mind, if this is something you'd like to build, I'm happy to do what I can to help answer questions, or work through any roadblocks you might encounter.

I’ve been looking into this board as an option for the project, and it seems promising.

This tiny board has both a touchscreen and an ESP32 module with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi capabilities, a 1S LiPo battery charging interface... all for less than 20 bucks. I’ve just purchased one and started experimenting with the project using VSC and PlatformIO to see how far I can get. I’ll share any progress with you.

View attachment 869775

Unfortunately, that board is based on an ESP32-C3 which is not a platform that I plan to support for TiltBridge. The ESP32-C3 is based on a RISC-V architecture, while the (base) ESP32 and ESP32-S3 are based on Tensilica chips. Although Espressif's frameworks should mean that code will cross-compile without issues, I've seen microcontroller-specific bugs in the past which lead to all kinds of fun trying to determine why code that works one place won't work in another. In the case of the ESP32-C3, there just isn't any advantage relative to either the ESP32 or ESP32-S3 for the TiltBridge, so the added headache isn't worth it.

With that said - again - if you're interested in building something for your own use I don't see any reason offhand that this won't work -- but I would recommend the ESP32-S3 over the ESP32-C3 if there's still time to change.

 

[mijaba]

Hey Thorrak, thanks for your comments.

It was not a big deal to find a substitute based on ESP32-S3, under 30 bucks this time but with the same capabilities (touch screen, 1S LiPo battery support, ...)

I'll give it a try. It's been ages (at least 20 years) since I've been playing around with microcontrollers and It'll be a nice playground for my purposes.

https://es.aliexpress.com/item/1005007769444818.html

If I'm not able to run TiltBridge and end up giving up, I have a silly backup plan: integrate some data coming from Home Assistant through ESPHome and simply display the Tilt readings on it.

 

[Thorrak]

Hey Thorrak, thanks for your comments.

It was not a big deal to find a substitute based on ESP32-S3, under 30 bucks this time but with the same capabilities (touch screen, 1S LiPo battery support, ...)

I'll give it a try. It's been ages (at least 20 years) since I've been playing around with microcontrollers and It'll be a nice playground for my purposes.

View attachment 869791
https://es.aliexpress.com/item/1005007769444818.html

If I'm not able to run TiltBridge and end up giving up, I have a silly backup plan: integrate some data coming from Home Assistant through ESPHome and simply display the Tilt readings on it.

If you use the `next` branch, you can probably start with the changes that were made to support the T-Display. You'll need to rewrite the display code given the circular display, obviously, but you might be able to get at least the initial functionality up and running pretty quickly.

 

[mijaba]

That convinced me to purchase directly the board

Let's go, I'll keep you up to date

 

[Ballaratguy]

Hey Thorrak, thanks for your comments.

It was not a big deal to find a substitute based on ESP32-S3, under 30 bucks this time but with the same capabilities (touch screen, 1S LiPo battery support, ...)

I'll give it a try. It's been ages (at least 20 years) since I've been playing around with microcontrollers and It'll be a nice playground for my purposes.

View attachment 869791
https://es.aliexpress.com/item/1005007769444818.html

If I'm not able to run TiltBridge and end up giving up, I have a silly backup plan: integrate some data coming from Home Assistant through ESPHome and simply display the Tilt readings on it.

I’d love to know how you go with this and how easy would it be to load the tilt bright program and to get it to run
(I’m a bit useless at setting up some of these things. If it’s plug and play then I might have some success of doing it)