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)

 

[Thorrak]

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)

Hey there!

Just to be clear - is your question how to build a TiltBridge more generically, or is it specifically how to build one using the ESP32-S3 that mijaba is talking about?

 

[UncleD]

HBT community, sorry for not being around as much! Family, work, and life has taken away from my time for supporting some of these projects. For anyone who has tried to create an account with the web app, I apologize the email verifications weren't configured. I am working on setting them up so it will be working again. It also sounds like @Thorrak is already working on another cloud solution. I'll be reaching out to him separately to help where he needs. I'll update this thread as soon as the web app is working properly. All others that already had a tiltbridge logging to the cloud and a use set up, that functionality should not have stopped. I can confirm that there are many tiltbridges actively logging data as recent as yesterday.

 

[UncleD]

I have confirmed that verification emails are now operating as designed. For anyone who has been trying to create an account, this should now be functional.

 

[bloombrews]

@Thorrak
My ESP32 board with mini onboard screen just crapped out on ,me after years of great service using Tiltbridge
I went to the beginning of this thread, under Documentation, and both links you have posted are dead-end links now. Go figure after 6 years...
https://heltec.org/project/wifi-kit-32/
and https://www.adafruit.com/product/4290

HAPPY BIRTHDAY FERMENTRACK!!! 6 Years Young today!

 

[bloombrews]

@Thorrak
I liked using the mini esp32 board with led screen, the screen size does not matter, since I use Fermentrack and look at my computer screen for the Tilt graph readouts. Also, the big TFT screen will crack very easily if it falls off your fermentor.... I know from experience
I see on Aliexpress, there are now "large" onboard screen mini esp boards available, but not sure if they are supported here?
We all thank YOU, for working so hard on these projects, so Us Else, can make Great Beer Again!
Happy Birthday

 

[Thorrak]

@Thorrak
I liked using the mini esp32 board with led screen, the screen size does not matter, since I use Fermentrack and look at my computer screen for the Tilt graph readouts. Also, the big TFT screen will crack very easily if it falls off your fermentor.... I know from experience
I see on Aliexpress, there are now "large" onboard screen mini esp boards available, but not sure if they are supported here?
We all thank YOU, for working so hard on these projects, so Us Else, can make Great Beer Again!
Happy Birthday

Well, Happy Birthday TiltBridge, at least.

For some reason I keep managing to release things right about this time - TiltBridge in late March, Fermentrack in late April, and - if memory serves - Fermentrack 2 was opened up for use right around this time as well. I was hoping to have some new (versions of existing) things to release right about now as well, but we’re traveling at the moment and I didn’t want to risk breaking things when I wasn’t near home. Keep an eye open for the newest versions of both TiltBridge and BrewPi-ESP this coming weekend.

With regards to hardware, I’ve been trying to nudge people away from the OLED models for new builds as the code to support them just seems to keep growing. I have no plans on dropping support for them currently but I can’t guarantee any new board will ultimately work with the firmware, so it’s trial and error at the moment.

My recommendation in your case if you’re looking for a smaller profile board would be this one: https://a.co/d/23JGmci

Although I have never used that board and can’t guarantee that it will work, looking at the pin out it seems correct. What you are specifically looking for is a pin out similar to this:



I note this, as while searching just now I saw at least one other board that didn’t have the right MOSI pin and therefore would not work. Just something to keep in mind.

Regardless - glad to hear you got so many years of service out of your last TiltBridge. Fingers crossed this one gives you many more years to come!

 

[Thorrak]

TiltBridge 2.0 - Alpha Now Available​

After months of development, I’m excited to announce TiltBridge 2.0 is now available for alpha testing!

TiltBridge 2 is a complete rework of the original TiltBridge, with major improvements across the board—from the user interface to hardware support and beyond.

What's New in TiltBridge 2?​

New Web Interface
TiltBridge 2 now features a modern, Vue-based interface—similar to Fermentrack 2 and the latest (v16) BrewPi firmware. The new UI makes setup smoother and simplifies connecting your TiltBridge to cloud services and logging platforms.

ESP32-S3 Hardware Support
TiltBridge 2 adds support for ESP32-S3-based boards, adding another modern chipset as an option for your brewery. Although the recommended hardware remains the ESP32, this added flexibility gives you options if the preferred controller is in short supply.

Multilingual Support
Out of the box, TiltBridge 2's web interface now supports English, Spanish, Portuguese, German, and Dutch. Translations are machine-generated to start, but any suggestions for improvement -- or requests for additional translations! -- are welcome.

Coming Soon: Fermentrack 2 Integration
Native support for Fermentrack 2 is on the way! Once added, your Tilt readings will sync automatically to Fermentrack 2, ensuring real-time tracking of gravity and temperature alongside your other brewing data. While this feature isn’t in the alpha yet, it will land before the beta release.

Ready to Test?​

TiltBridge 2 is still in alpha, but it's stable and ready for early adopters to try out. Whether you’ve used the original TiltBridge or are just looking to breathe new life into your Tilt Hydrometer, now’s the perfect time to jump in.

TiltBridge 2 is available on BrewFlasher, BrewFlasher Web, and BrewFlasher Command Line Edition, in addition to in the next branch on GitHub.



Got feedback, bug reports, or language suggestions? Drop them here or submit them via GitHub. Thanks for giving TiltBridge 2 a try—and happy brewing!

 

[Gozie Boy]

@Thorrak, this is terrific work and I'm very impressed by your innovation and diligence in pursuing this over many years. I have been following TiltBridge over all of this time because I have the need for such a product. I'm curious as to whether the ultimate goal of this project is to have a "black box" that is more or less plug 'n play, essentially a "commercial" product for the masses? Many/most of us do not have the technical experience and expertise to build boards, wire up/test, debug, and go through everything that is currently needed to create one of these. In the meantime, I will continue to watch "from the outside" with interest!

 

[Thorrak]

@Thorrak, this is terrific work and I'm very impressed by your innovation and diligence in pursuing this over many years. I have been following TiltBridge over all of this time because I have the need for such a product. I'm curious as to whether the ultimate goal of this project is to have a "black box" that is more or less plug 'n play, essentially a "commercial" product for the masses? Many/most of us do not have the technical experience and expertise to build boards, wire up/test, debug, and go through everything that is currently needed to create one of these. In the meantime, I will continue to watch "from the outside" with interest!

Thanks for your interest in the project!

The answer to this question is - unfortunately - “it’s complicated”. Since this device uses a radio, any commercial sale would require FCC certification. It used to be that if you were using packaged radio modules, as long as those modules were certified, you could rely on their certification, but the law changed a while back such that (per my understanding!) any hardware modification would result in the need for recertification. There is an exemption for kits that require assembly (which is why you can buy uncertified modules today) but aside from using that exemption I would have to seek certification which per my understanding can cost upwards of $10k.

With that said, there are now devices on the market that are already certified that come with all the necessary hardware to run TiltBridge. In theory, I could take one of these devices, install the TiltBridge firmware, and sell that legally - but given the current tariff environment this would be incredibly cost prohibitive as I would not be the manufacturer of the hardware.

Thankfully, even without me providing a pre-built device, building a TiltBridge is pretty straightforward:



While one day things may change and I might be able to offer one, for now I would recommend taking a look at that video and seeing if this is something you might be comfortable attempting. One of the best things about TiltBridge is that - as a single component solution - even if it doesn’t work, you’re not out all that much!

 

[mijaba]

Hey @Thorrak, good morning!

I've been testing v2-alpha for a while and noticed a couple of minor bugs in the web UI:

• Even though the JSON is providing the correct values for each Tilt reading, the web UI isn't rendering them.

• I configured a couple of Target integrations and pressed Save. The values disappeared until I did a full page reload (F5), after which they reappeared. (Kind of hard to explain — let me know if I wasn’t clear enough.)

By the way, the new UI looks amazing and seems Dark Mode ready! Both my integrations (MQTT and Brewfather) are working perfectly as usual. Awesome job, man!

I'm still trying to find some spare time to start working on the LVG library. I was able to build, compile, and run the “next” version on the round display based on the S3 chip.