[Version 2 Release] RaspberryPints - Digital Taplist Solution

[Ricand]

I bought this header board for my Uno since I'm using 8 flow meters. Thought it might help someone else willing to spend another $20 for convenience.

I've used RandR+ script and got RPints up on my RBp3 running Buster first try. I'm having trouble with his script to upload the sketch file to the Uno. I changed Config.py and commented out the alamode port and un commented the ttyACM0 line. When it didn't work I went back and noticed there was a final line in Config.py that seems to reset the port to the alamode. I commented out that line. I didn't see where to change the baud rate. Looking at flowmonitor.py about half way down there was a hard coded line that was "self.arduino - serial.Serial(self.port,9600,timeout=.5)" so I changed it to 57,600. Running tail -f /var/log/rpints.log it still says reflashing alamode failed. Command blahblahblah returned a non-zero exit status 1. Any words of wisdom from the multiple gurus here? Thanks in advance.

 

[troyp42]

Hi guys, Does anyone know why the SRM graphic for the beer at 40SRM is showing a Question symbol? Also I saw someone had there arm showing as EBC instead. Is it easy to change this?

Also how do I remove the graphic I tried adding to my tap number on tap 1? Thanks gents

 

[troyp42]

Howdy. brewers, So I have my Rpints installed and very happy with it thanks to the easy install script from RandR+ Thanks again.

Im reading through this thread but just have a few simple questions.

1. Are the flow meters only to measure pours or are they used for keg volume too? I saw something about using load cells to measure the weight of the kegs instead. If I dont care about registering pours is the load cells the way to go? Or does the flow meters work best for keg volumes also?

2. Do you have to use an alamode board with the flow meters. (I dont think you can get them here in Aust) Will an Arduino board work and if so is there a link to how to wire and set all the hardware up for an Arduino board, (Or aLaMode board if that must be used?)

Thanks guys much appreciated.

 

[day_trippr]

You can use an Uno instead, indeed I recommend that, as the only advantage of the Alamode is Z-axis utilization.

The meters tell the database how much was poured each time you draw beer. R'Pints keeps track of the total pours as well as how much is remaining for each monitored keg. Like this:

The original RaspberryPints did not support anything other than flow meters for volume tracking.
I don't think any of the currently supported forks do, either...

Cheers!

 

[day_trippr]

In the original RaspberryPints 2.0.1, when using an Uno one should only have edit flow_monitor.py to switch the port monitored to ttyACM0. Baud rate can stay at 9600, no reason to change it.

I suspect RandR+ has changed how all this works, but the results should conform to the above...

Cheers!

 

[troyp42]

In the original RaspberryPints 2.0.1, when using an Uno one should only have edit flow_monitor.py to switch the port monitored to ttyACM0. Baud rate can stay at 9600, no reason to change it.

I suspect RandR+ has changed how all this works, but the results should conform to the above...

Cheers!

Thanks heaps for the reply. So what sort of flow meters can I use? The original link to the Swissflow SF800 meters on ebay is dead (And it was US ebay). Will this sort of flow meter do the trick? (Is the 1 litre per minute minimum enough?) My taps pour fairly slow.

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/1-2-Wat...148887?hash=item36326ba317:g:~T8AAOSwqiJb5Dcg

And will this Arduino Uno do the trick?

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Arduino...=1733586107183255e6e3986e46d4932be545d1c60edb

 

[day_trippr]

The Hall Effect meter appears to be "the same" as what Adafruit sells and which has been used by at least a few people with RaspberryPints. The default settings for the original (and presumably derivative versions) are configured for the IR-based SwissFlow SF800 but can be modified to use the lower "tick rate" of these Hall Effect type sensors.

That "Uno" uses a CH431A USB-serial bridge chip instead of the "official" design which sports a Mega 16U2. I believe it can be made to work but the port specifier will be something different from "ttyACM0" (can't remember off the top of my head).

If you could find an "Uno R3" with the 16U2 you'd avoid that potential headache...

Cheers!

 

[troyp42]

The Hall Effect meter appears to be "the same" as what Adafruit sells and which has been used by at least a few people with RaspberryPints. The default settings for the original (and presumably derivative versions) are configured for the IR-based SwissFlow SF800 but can be modified to use the lower "tick rate" of these Hall Effect type sensors.

That "Uno" uses a CH431A USB-serial bridge chip instead of the "official" design which sports a Mega 16U2. I believe it can be made to work but the port specifier will be something different from "ttyACM0" (can't remember off the top of my head).

If you could find an "Uno R3" with the 16U2 you'd avoid that potential headache...

Cheers!

Okay what about this Uno R3 board?

https://www.jaycar.com.au/duinotech-uno-r3-development-board/p/XC4410

Or is this one from Ebay (and cheaper) the same one?

https://www.ebay.com.au/itm/UNO-R3-...247738?hash=item46a41061ba:g:Rw4AAOSwpBdd8hPp

So will I need to go back and re-install Rpints (I used RandR+ installer script) and say yes to flow meters to set all this up? Or was that only for the aLaMode board?

Thanks again for the help.

 

[day_trippr]

Both links are to legit Uno R3 clones with the 16U2 bridge chip.
I believe I've read re-running the installer will give you the opportunity to turn on flow monitoring. Beyond that I don't know how you select which hardware solution is present or how to specify things like pins used, etc...

Cheers!

 

[troyp42]

I use this on my setup but with snooker balls instead of beer labels:

The key thing to remember is you need to add the

<span class= "tapcircle"><img src="img/tap/<?php echo $i; ?>-tap.png" alt=""></span>

twice (once in the "active taps" section of your index.php file and again in the "inactive" section).

Cheers,

Kal

Im trying to follow this but having a few problems. I found a Index.php file in www/var/html But I couldnt find a line that says <span class........

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

php and MariaDB will work in Windows 10. Thinking of porting my version of Raspberry Pints to Windows. Would others find running Raspberry Pints on Windows (instead of the Linux nonsense) useful?

 

[LBussy]

I have Swiss Flow and the Adafruit-type here in my test bench. I can tell you that the Swiss Flow is quite a bit more accurate. They are definitely more pricey, but my Grandfather always told me to buy the best tool I can afford if I care about my work. That advice has rarely been wrong.

They are still very definitely selling them:

http://www.swissflow.com/sf800.html

They have used eBay in the past to make it easier/more palatable for US buyers, but there’s a bit of a lull in that so I assume they let the listing lapse.

 

[garzlok]

php and MariaDB will work in Windows 10. Thinking of porting my version of Raspberry Pints to Windows. Would others find running Raspberry Pints on Windows (instead of the Linux nonsense) useful?

Fermentrack and this project have been my first foray into the world of RaspberryPi.

I think the question to how useful moving to Windows would be, will be answered by future Raspberry Pints users. I think you will find trying to teach people how to set up a web server on Windows will be just as challenging as teaching them Linux commands and IMO you’re giving up one challenge, just to take on another equally tough challenge.

I’ve been running a modified RPints V.2 on a Windows XP machine for years without issues. (Pictured below)

...and here I am, putting together a new RPints build. Why? Because I want flow meters and a temperature sensor and an RPiZeroW fits behind my kegerator a heck of a lot easier than my old desktop.

Yeah, Some of the learning curve sucks, but there are a lot of individuals like yourself that answer stupid (ok, not stupid but maybe painfully obvious) questions from individuals like me.

So, I don’t think you’re going to find it difficult to move to Windows, but I know people will still struggle with set-up.

 

[garzlok]

They are definitely more pricey, but my Grandfather always told me to buy the best tool I can afford if I care about my work. That advice has rarely been wrong.

I like it!

Can you please share his advice on what to do when Grandmother finds out you just spent $200 on “tools” because they’re neat?

 

[RandR+]

Command blahblahblah returned a non-zero exit status 1. Any words of wisdom from the multiple gurus here?

If you can flash the Arduino manually then its ok this command fails. its just a safety check to make sure the Arduino is ready.

Also, the config.py is setup when you run my Script, it prompts what method you want to use to connect to the Arduino.

 

[RandR+]

Does anyone know why the SRM graphic for the beer at 40SRM is showing a Question symbol? Also I saw someone had there arm showing as EBC instead. Is it easy to change this?

Also how do I remove the graphic I tried adding to my tap number on tap 1?

it seems that I'm missing SRM above 36 I will have to look for the original images and see if I missed it.

Not sure about EBC.

I just added a remove button, if you rerun my script and hit yes to update it will get the latest

 

[RandR+]

Are the flow meters only to measure pours or are they used for keg volume too? I saw something about using load cells to measure the weight of the kegs instead.

When a pour is registered it will be removed from the volume in the keg.

My branch had the outline for load cells but no code to interact with them. I am working on finishing the code up to talk to hx711 sensors

 

[RandR+]

I found a Index.php file in www/var/html But I couldnt find a line that says <span class........

My version doesn't have the <span class in the index. If you want to use images then just upload them via the taps admin page and delete the text in them

 

[LBussy]

My branch had the outline for load cells but no code to interact with them. I am working on finishing the code up to talk to hx711 sensors

It's great to have options, but I think you will find that a refrigerator is a hostile environment for a load sensor, and the readings will creep over time.

 

[LBussy]

I have Swiss Flow and the Adafruit-type here in my test bench. I can tell you that the Swiss Flow is quite a bit more accurate.

I wanted to share a bit more about this. The other sensor commonly used is sold by Adafruit (and others). From Adafruit's website:

Note this isn't a precision sensor, and the pulse rate does vary a bit depending on the flow rate, fluid pressure and sensor orientation. It will need careful calibration if better than 10% precision is required. However, its great for basic measurement tasks!

The emphasis is mine. 10% precision means you can run out of beer when you think you have 10 servings left. And that's also not saying they guarantee 10% precision, it's saying that if you want better than that, every time you change kegs, change serving pressure, move anything in the kegerator, even change the little lever on the side of your Perlick faucet - you will need to recalibrate your sensor.

No matter what you think now, you will find the flow sensor a whole lot more informative if you believe it. Otherwise, you might just as well install an honor button for each pint pulled. And it's not completely about information is it? I mean there's a coolness factor to both having it done "automatically" and then having it be right. If you use a cheap sensor, you're selling a system like this far short of its capability or your goals.

 

[Ricand]

Thanks heaps for the reply. So what sort of flow meters can I use? The original link to the Swissflow SF800 meters on ebay is dead (And it was US ebay). Will this sort of flow meter do the trick? (Is the 1 litre per minute minimum enough?) My taps pour fairly slow.

EBay still has the Swiss flow meters available. They are free shipped for $75 each with the right jg fittings. Just search Swissflow SF800.

 

[day_trippr]

fwiw, the JG fittings that ship with the SF800 expect a 3/8" OD tube. If one aspires to use EVAbarrier tubing (which is 8mm or 5/16" OD) you'll want a 3/8" BSP female to 8mm (or 5/16") OD fitting.

For John Guest, that's part number PM450813E. When I was kitting up nobody carried this part.
For DMfit, that's part number AFAB0506C, which I found at freshwatersystems.com
I have been unable to find a Duotight fitting for this...

Cheers!

 

[troyp42]

it seems that I'm missing SRM above 36 I will have to look for the original images and see if I missed it.

Not sure about EBC.

I just added a remove button, if you rerun my script and hit yes to update it will get the latest

Cheers for that. I updated and can see the remove button.

 

[Ricand]

hmm looks like you successfully connected to the Arduino.

I suggest stopping the service (sudo /etc/init.d/flowmon stop)
then go to the Arduino IDE
reupload
open the serial monitor (under tools)
You should see a stream of alive messages coming in.
If not then Arduino is not actually running for some reason
if you do enter the following in the serial monitor and hit enter
C:2:2:7:0:300:200:30:50:250:0|
it should be echoed back to you and you should be able to try a pour and see a P: message
If it is not echoed back then there is an error what I told you to send and I will test with mine to make sure it is correct

I'm having trouble seeing my flow meters and did this test you recommended to someone else. The serial monitor did echo the string and then StatusCheck;. No pours are detected. With verbose on the rpints.log file end is this:
2020-01-08 16:01:36 RPINTS: alamode was restarted, restart flowmonitor
2020-01-08 16:01:36 RPINTS: closing serial connection to alamode...
2020-01-08 16:01:37 RPINTS: flowmonitor aborted, restarting...
2020-01-08 16:01:37 RPINTS: resetting alamode
2020-01-08 16:01:38 RPINTS: waiting for alamode to come alive
2020-01-08 16:01:40 RPINTS: alamode alive...
2020-01-08 16:01:40 RPINTS: getting config data for alamode
2020-01-08 16:01:40 RPINTS: alamode config, about to send: C:8:0:0:0:0:0:4:0:0:0:300:200:30:250:0:0|
2020-01-08 16:01:40 RPINTS: Waiting for Config Response
2020-01-08 16:01:40 RPINTS: alamode says: C:8:0:0:0:0:0:4:0:0:0:300:200:30:250:0:0|
2020-01-08 16:01:40 RPINTS: 1Wire Temperature Thread 1 is Running
2020-01-08 16:01:40 RPINTS: listening to alamode
2020-01-08 16:01:40 RPINTS: Sending Status;NOTOK;-1;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;|
2020-01-08 16:01:46 RPINTS: unknown message: StatsCheck;
2020-01-08 16:01:58 RPINTS: alive
2020-01-08 16:01:58 RPINTS: alamode was restarted, restart flowmonitor
2020-01-08 16:01:58 RPINTS: closing serial connection to alamode...
2020-01-08 16:01:59 RPINTS: flowmonitor aborted, restarting...
2020-01-08 16:01:59 RPINTS: resetting alamode
2020-01-08 16:02:00 RPINTS: waiting for alamode to come alive
2020-01-08 16:02:00 RPINTS: alamode alive...
2020-01-08 16:02:00 RPINTS: getting config data for alamode
2020-01-08 16:02:00 RPINTS: alamode config, about to send: C:8:0:0:0:0:0:4:0:0:0:300:200:30:250:0:0|
2020-01-08 16:02:00 RPINTS: Waiting for Config Response
2020-01-08 16:02:00 RPINTS: alamode says: C:8:0:0:0:0:0:4:0:0:0:300:200:30:250:0:0|
2020-01-08 16:02:00 RPINTS: 1Wire Temperature Thread 1 is Running
2020-01-08 16:02:00 RPINTS: listening to alamode
2020-01-08 16:02:00 RPINTS: Sending Status;NOTOK;-1;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;0;|
2020-01-08 16:02:03 RPINTS: unknown message: SatusCheck;

Do you need the full log file? Any ideas? Could I have a bad Uno?

 

[garzlok]

I wanted to share a bit more about this. The other sensor commonly used is sold by Adafruit (and others)....

Can't disagree with anything you say and with the SwissFlo coming in with a frequency of 100Hz and an IR signal measurement, it is the Ferrari of Flow Meters for a home brewer. A flow meter that has the ability to theoretically produce over 22K pulses per gallon is obscene and is going to give you great accuracy.

I think you were being kind to the Adafruit Flow Meter, the SF800 is probably closer to 15x more accurate.

I haven't seen it explained in the threads, but I think the pulse count numbers are not understood well and a bit confounding. (all theoretical numbers)

Swissflow SF800
100Hz +/- 1%
100 pulses/second at 1L/Min Flow (x 60 seconds)
6000 pulses/L (x 3.78541 conversion factor to gallons)
22,712.5 pulses/Gal (/ 128)
177.4 pulses/oz

Adafruit Flow Meter
7.5Hz +/- 10%
7.5 pulses/second at 1L/Min Flow
450 pulses/L
1703.4 pulses/Gal
13.3 pulses/oz

Digiten Flow Meter (as recommended by RandR+)
23Hz +/- 2%
23 pulses/second at 1L/min Flow
1380 pulses/L
5,223.9 pulses/Gal
40.8 pulses/oz

As you can see, the SF800 crushes it. At 177 pulses/oz .An extra pulse (or 10) here or there won't mess with your accuracy.

With the Adafruit, an extra (or missed) pulse will definitely mess with your volumes.

-Do not take these pulse/gal numbers as gospel. Each meter is going to have it's own K value that you will have to figure out with each individual meter. If you have SwissFlow's...you don't have much work to do.-

 

[LBussy]

fwiw, the JG fittings that ship with the SF800 expect a 3/8" OD tube. If one aspires to use EVAbarrier tubing (which is 8mm or 5/16" OD) you'll want a 3/8" BSP female to 8mm (or 5/16") OD fitting.

For John Guest, that's part number PM450813E. When I was kitting up nobody carried this part.
For DMfit, that's part number AFAB0506C, which I found at freshwatersystems.com
I have been unable to find a Duotight fitting for this...

Dave, I need a book for the stuff I save that you've shared so I can find it again. Thanks for this!

 

[RandR+]

Do you need the full log file? Any ideas? Could I have a bad Uno?

One tweak that I haven't got worked out is the baudrate for UNO needs to be increased to at least 57600. but I haven't tried to figure out how to make the Sketch configurable.

Until I do
try
stop the service from the terminal
sudo /etc/init.d/flowmon stop

then changing a few lines of code
In python/FlowMonitor.py change line
self.arduino = serial.Serial(self.port,9600,timeout=.5)
to
self.arduino = serial.Serial(self.port,57600,timeout=.5)

then save

and in the Arduino IDE open arduino/raspberrypints/raspberrypints.ino
change line
Serial.begin(9600);
to
Serial.begin(57600);

Then save and upload the sketch
Delete arduino/raspberrypints/raspberrypints.cpp.hex (otherwise the python will upload an old version on startup)

Then start the service from the terminal
sudo /etc/init.d/flowmon start

 

[Tobor_8thMan]

I think the question to how useful moving to Windows would be, will be answered by future Raspberry Pints users. I think you will find trying to teach people how to set up a web server on Windows will be just as challenging as teaching them Linux commands and IMO you’re giving up one challenge, just to take on another equally tough challenge.

Not exactly setting up a web server in Windows. Simple matter of going into the Add/Remove Programs Wizard (appwiz.cpl), clicking "Turn Windows features on or off" and activating the already available iisexpress (in Internet Information Services).

Thinking of something to do with the old, unused PCs (maybe running Windows XP, Windows 7, etc). Run Window Pints.

Linux, et al, IMO are PITAs.

 

[LBussy]

Linux, et al, IMO are PITAs.

This speaks to your capabilities, not the capabilities of the systems upon which nearly all of these products run. If you want to further fraction the base, go right ahead. I will watch and eat popcorn as the end-users (who already don't know where to start) deal with that new road.

 

[day_trippr]

I'm not sure coding anything for XP or Win7 makes sense considering one hasn't been supported with security patches for years and the other is about to go the same way...

Cheers!