Tilt Bridge Build
So, I went ahead and built this because I am a big fan of being able to monitor and control fermentation from anywhere, and this seemed like a fun project to get all my tilts data logging to a website.
Previously, I was using an old Samsung pad to bridge the values to my Google Sheets account, but that pad has since died, and, in my opinion, almost rendered the tilt devices useless (not useless but, I think the real power of these is to be able to see the data anywhere). I am a decently busy person, so I like to be able to see the data anywhere, and be able to make adjustments on the fly (combined with Wifi enabled Inkbird controllers, I can monitor and control fermentation anywhere).
It was really very easy. Had a few issues along the way, but they were relatively easy to overcome.
Electronics:
I ordered what was outlined on the tilt bridge website, through AliExpress. Ordered on July 6th, and received them on July 19th. SUPER surprised that they got here so fast.
Ordered:
BOARD (16MB Flash LED Option):
8.8US $ |LOLIN D32 Pro V2.0.0 wifi & bluetooth board based ESP 32 esp32 Rev1 ESP32 WROVER 16MB 8MB 4MB FLASH PSRAM MicroPython|Integrated Circuits| - AliExpress
SCREEN:
12.0US $ |TFT 2.4 Touch Shield V1.0.0 for LOLIN (WEMOS) D1 mini 2.4
CABLE:
0.8US $ |TFT e Paper Cable 10P 200mm 20cm for WEMOS SH1.0 10P double head cable|cable tft|cable 20cmcable for - AliExpress
Case:
For the case, I have a buddy with a PLA plastic 3D printer, so he just knocked it out for me, and he supplied the little screw to put it all together. He was able to download the model file from the GitHub site, and he seemed to have no issue with importing and getting it printed. Super easy, and super quick. Only challenge here was getting the screws to thread in, and to line up. I just had to use a pocket knife to clean out the holes, and with a little patience (damn small screws), everything worked out really well.
Assembly
Took about 2 minutes. Just push the 2 connectors into the ports on the board and the screen, and you are good to go with the electronics. Drop the board in the case, then place the screen on the pegs in the case. Added the lid, screwed it down, and it was good to go!
Connecting To Computer/Flashing:
*I used BrewFlasher on a Windows 10 64bit system. Other flashing programs may be different from this.
This part did slow me down a bit, so here are 3 things that stopped me up, that I will relay to yall.
- Be sure that the USB/MicroB cable you are using (the one that connects the board to your computer) is DATA capable, and not just a charging cable. Thanks to @LBussy for the clue!
I was unable to get the board to talk to the computer, and kept getting this error:
Come to find out, I needed a cable that was DATA capable, not just one with power (a charging cable). So, I got a different cable from the pile, and all was good.
- You may or may not need a driver for the computer to be able to see the board. I did not, so I had to install it. I used this link: CH340 Driver — WEMOS documentation (I used the one for Windows).
After this, I was able to get BrewFlasher to flash to the controller. But, I still had one more issue.
- Be sure to select the correct firmware on the BrewFlasher menu.
The dropdowns in the program are simple to follow, but there are a few things to pick from, and it may trip you up a bit (as it did me!). Here are the settings I used to get everything to work properly:
Until I got there, I was using the firmware that had “ALPHA” listed in the title. My screen was blank, and I could not get to the tiltbridge.local screen on my computer/phone. I figured this had to be wrong, so I tried the one listed above, and the screen populated itself with the tilt bridge info, and we were rolling!
Connecting Device To Tilt(s):
From there, I went ahead and moved the screen/board/cable assembly near my fermentors, so the device could see my tilts. They connected super quickly, and the Bluetooth range/performance was about the same as my iPhone, so this was an awesome surprise. So, no issues there, or anything to do really. Just set the device near your tilt(s).
Accessing Tilt Bridge From Phone/Computer:
After I got the tilts connected to the bridge, I wanted to get the data logging setup. I tried to access the bridge from my computer and phone, but was unable to with each. Eventually, I was able to get access to it on my phone (iPhone), and was easily able to set everything up. One thing I took away from this was the below (and I am not sure if I am wrong here, so someone can correct me if I am.
- With the iPhone, I was able to connect to the tiltbridge.local page once I was out of Bluetooth range. So, I am thinking that there may be WiFi issues when you are still in the range of the Bluetooth connection? So, maybe, if you are having issues with your phone, move far enough away to break the Bluetooth connection.
Lastly, I still could not access the bridge from my computer. Thankfully,
@Exception13 let me know that I needed Bonjour to access the site (
Download Bonjour Print Services for Windows v2.0.2 ). I did download and install this, and attempted to navigate to the tiltbridge.local, but still was not successful. So, additionally, he suggested that I just use the IP address to access the local site. I did (the IP address to the bridge is located on the screen when it is powered up; just type that address into your browser bar), and was able to access the site, and navigate to the area to paste in the google sheets script URL, assign the names, and get the data flowing to google sheets! One takeaway from this…
- I am not sure that the install of Bonjour was needed, but I did it anyway. You may just be able to use the IP address alone to access the local site (someone correct me if I am wrong here).
Logging Setup
*I use Google Sheets for logging
Had a few trip ups here as well, but got them figured out. These were due to the fact that I did have an old logging setup that was tied to my Samsung device, and it didn't seem to like both being in there. So, I just started from scratch, with a new master template, and everything worked well.
Setting up the sheet was pretty straight forward. Follow the instructions on the Tilt Bridge site, and you should be all good.
Cloud Service Setup — TiltBridge documentation
Once I got the template copied to my Google Drive account, I was able to use the script editor, and grab the script URL, and paste it into the tiltbridgelocal page.
Once the script URL was in, and the beer names were filled in, the master template sheet began to autofill with the beer names, and link to each log file, and the bridge began pushing data to the sheet.
Overall, with the snafus, and small issues, I had about 5 hours in setting it up. If I didn't have any issues, it would have taken me like an hour or 2. Very very easy, awesome solution.
Total Cost:
- Board: $9.80
- Screen: $12.00
- Cable: $0.80
- Shipping and Tax: $7.21
- Case and Screws: $20 (This was probably a little much, but I was supporting a friend!)
- Cable: Free to me (Like $6 if you need one) (here is a link: Amazon.com: Amazon Basics USB 2.0 A-Male to Micro B Charger Cable, 6 feet, Black: Computers & Accessories
- Charging adapter: Free to me (I am sure we all have an old one lying around somewhere, but if not, $8.50) Link: Amazon.com: Amazon Basics One-Port USB Wall Charger for Phone, iPad, and Tablet, 12W - Black
Total: $64.31 on the absolute high end, my cost was $49.81, but this could be as low as $18 if you chose to not have a screen or case, and you had the cable and adapter lying around.
This is way cheaper than a new iPad that will just sit around for just this reason. If you have an old tablet you don't use, then that's great for this, but this is a great option if you do not! Time investment was super low, even with my stumbling blocks. Half of the work required is required with any bridging device, so there isn't a huge loss of time spent in going with this device.
Here are some photos of the build: