[Version 2 Release] RaspberryPints - Digital Taplist Solution

[sboyajian]

The short answer is yes it will do it, but you'll have to make some changes to the code (what those are I cannot say).

The swissflow meters were used for several reasons, one, they're the most accurate ones available. Two, they're food grade. Three, there's already another system (kegbot) thats using them.

The meters on adafruit's site are an unknown.

We do not know if they are food grade (one could "almost" say that at the price they are selling them for its questionable), the pulse per liter on them is ~450 pulses per liter where the swiss flow is set to somewhere around 5600 pulses per liter (if my memory is correct, I did the math 6 months ago). Also the accuracy of the swissflow is a lot greater than the adafruit.

We do not support the adafruit meter (we'll help out, but we're far more knowledgeable about the swissflow ones).

This topic has come up with in the last several posts as well and I *think* someone was going to try it....

Well, the price is definitely more. I'll keep my eyes peeled for some on ebay or on HBT. I'd love to monitor volume, but not sure I can hide another 300-400 from the wife.

That being said, I did find the Parts list and tutorial on the RP site, so that'll make things easier.

I'll put it on hold and maybe start with 1 on meter and then expand from there. Thanks for the input. The SwissFlow does seem much better and worth the money.

 

[mcangeli]

I'll put it on hold and maybe start with 1 on meter and then expand from there. Thanks for the input. The SwissFlow does seem much better and worth the money.

The nice thing is that the system works with or with out them.

You can find them on ebay every so often (I think we drained the one guy selling the refurbs) but it is worth the wait.

They work well and are pretty damned accurate.

 

[sboyajian]

The nice thing is that the system works with or with out them.

You can find them on ebay every so often (I think we drained the one guy selling the refurbs) but it is worth the wait.

They work well and are pretty damned accurate.

Yeah.. objective #1 is just getting the kegerator built. Then I'll probably start small with 1 meter.

I assume 1 AlaMode Board can support multiple flow meters?

 

[mcangeli]

Yeah.. objective #1 is just getting the kegerator built. Then I'll probably start small with 1 meter.

I assume 1 AlaMode Board can support multiple flow meters?

I think the basic setup with the rpi and the alamode will do 8 or so meters without issue.

We're working on expanding that with an additional board.

Most of us are running between 3 to 5 (I have four...)

 

[PasbitinusBluinusRibbinus]

I'm SO close.. but when I got to tap a keg, I can select the beer and keg number but it doesn't actually get displayed. It just goes back to my tap list screen where nothing has been updated. Any ideas?

Edit: Somehow missed version 2.0.1. Awesome!

 

[billybryson54]

I'm beginning to try something new. I was reading back into some of the previous posts and saw that someone was able to install "Pianobar" to allow Pandora to play in the background of Rpints. Since then, I've installed Pianobar and my Pandora is working just fine. However it's kind of a pain in the butt to start it and stop it since I need a keyboard/mouse and I never have mine hooked up anymore thanks to Putty/WinSCP. I thought it would be really cool to be able to cue Pandora to begin off of Day_trippr's PIR sensor mod. I don't want Pandora to be playing all the time since my Pi runs 24-7 so I was hoping there would be a way to start/stop it when someone enters/leaves the room. Because of that, a line of code in the "autostart" directory wouldn't be ideal for me. I found some instruction on Google from someone who has done something similar but of course, it didn't work when I attempted it.

http://http://www.instructables.com/id/Motion-Detected-Music-Raspberry-Pi/?ALLSTEPS

I did notice that in their instruction, the sensor is plugged into a different GPIO port. They use #25, where mine uses #7. I made the correction in their supplied .py file but it still didn't work. I'm not giving up hope but i'm curious if someone can steer me in the correct direction, or if it is even an option. Thanks in advance!

 

[day_trippr]

I'm pretty beat but if I get a chance I'll take a closer look at that python script.

But first glance reveals that it polls the PIR on a ~1 second interval, where my code is interrupt-driven. May not be a problem - I actually have never looked to see how quickly the PIR negates its output after a trigger. So that's two things I'm curious about now

Anyway, as long as the PIR output is connected to pin 22 and the script is running something should happen.

To debug this, remove any autostart or cron entries related to the python script, and then run the script in a terminal. The code will print "motion detected" when it "sees" movement...

Cheers!

 

[billybryson54]

I've had the PIR set up on my Pi for a few months now. Works exactly the way it's supposed to. I have my screensaver set to turn on after one minute of no movement detected since my keezer is in a room that doesn't see a lot of foot traffic. So because of that, it would lead me to believe that the issue is that the command to start Pianobar from the PIR somehow got screwy. I'll look at it again when I get home tonight.

 

[JaimeTheLimey]

Is there an RPints suggestion box or is this it?

 

[day_trippr]

Is there an RPints suggestion box or is this it?

I'm sure we'd all love to hear your ideas, but to convey them to the R'Pints folks it's best to enter them here...

Cheers!

 

[JaimeTheLimey]

I'll do that. More of a want than a need. Since most of us with keezers and kegerators force carb, I thought it would be cool to have a Keg status for "carbonating" that would allow the user to put that keg on. Maybe the pint glass would show greyed out on the tap list or something. The user could set a predetermined amount of time for force carbing (me about 2 weeks). Once that period was over the beer would "go live" on the menu. For me that would be helpful in juggling multiple beers that have started carbing at different times.

Edit: Tried at the RPints link but when I hit the submit button it just says "Working" indefinitely. Bummer.

 

[njs170]

I received a broken John Guest connection. I need the one that screws on to the flow meter. I am on the freshwatersystems.com and I can't figure out which one I need. Can someone help me out? Thank you!

 

[BeWilder]

Not sure where everyone is getting their Alamode but I received an email today advertising a Makers Shed deal for $22, (for the next 14 hrs.)

http://www.makershed.com/products/alamode-for-raspberry-pi?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=New+in+the+Shed+-+Hover+Crazyflie+Googly+Eye+Shield&utm_content=New+in+the+Shed+-+Hover+Crazyflie+Googly+Eye+Shield+CID_d8af90a8c553d791ac521d1d510ca282&utm_source=email%20_campaign&utm_term=Deal%20of%20the%20Day%20Alamode%20for%20Raspberry%20Pi

 

[chemman14]

Not sure where everyone is getting their Alamode but I received an email today advertising a Makers Shed deal for $22, (for the next 14 hrs.)

http://www.makershed.com/products/alamode-for-raspberry-pi?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=New+in+the+Shed+-+Hover+Crazyflie+Googly+Eye+Shield&utm_content=New+in+the+Shed+-+Hover+Crazyflie+Googly+Eye+Shield+CID_d8af90a8c553d791ac521d1d510ca282&utm_source=email%20_campaign&utm_term=Deal%20of%20the%20Day%20Alamode%20for%20Raspberry%20Pi

Now if we could just get a deal on those dang flow meters we would be set!

 

[day_trippr]

I received a broken John Guest connection. I need the one that screws on to the flow meter. I am on the freshwatersystems.com and I can't figure out which one I need. Can someone help me out? Thank you!

Sorry I missed this earlier. I went with barbed connections, and the parts I used are:

John Guest Female Adapter BSPP - 3/8 x 3/8 BSPP -
Part # PI451213S

John Guest Stem Barb Connector - 3/8 OD Stem x 1/4 ID Barb -
Part # PI251208S

Otoh, if you want to run barbless, I think you need a different female adapter...

Cheers!

 

[njs170]

Sorry I missed this earlier. I went with barbed connections, and the parts I used are:

John Guest Female Adapter BSPP - 3/8 x 3/8 BSPP -
Part # PI451213S

John Guest Stem Barb Connector - 3/8 OD Stem x 1/4 ID Barb -
Part # PI251208S

Otoh, if you want to run barbless, I think you need a different female adapter...

Cheers!

Thank you! That is what I needed!

 

[Twang]

I finished setting everything up, but when I reboot the pi RaspberryPints does not automatically display. Chromium does not open. Any suggestions? p.s. this is all very new to me. I just tried to follow the instructions as closely as possible.

 

[day_trippr]

Can you start a browser and bring up your taplist manually?

Did you set up the desktop and browser for kiosk mode?

Cheers!

 

[Twang]

I believe I set up the desktop and browser for kiosk mode correctly...?
Yes, I can bring it up manually.

 

[day_trippr]

That's about all I have - I don't run my tap list in kiosk mode.

You might take a look at /var/log/lightdm/lightdm.log to see if there's anything to go on therein. I'm not certain that it records autostart execution but I suspect it does...

Cheers!

 

[Twang]

That's about all I have - I don't run my tap list in kiosk mode.

You might take a look at /var/log/lightdm/lightdm.log to see if there's anything to go on therein. I'm not certain that it records autostart execution but I suspect it does...

Cheers!

Don't see anything in that directory relating to autostart. Thanks for the suggestions though.

 

[day_trippr]

Don't see anything in that directory relating to autostart. Thanks for the suggestions though.

That was an actual file name - it's the log file for the desktop manager.
If it exists, open it with an editor...

Cheers!

 

[Twang]

That was an actual file name - it's the log file for the desktop manager.
If it exists, open it with an editor...

Cheers!

Sorry. Nope that log file does not exist.

I don't mind starting up raspberrypints manually each time. I guess my bigger problem is the screen still blanks after several minutes... Any other ideas?

 

[Twang]

Problem solved. Looked like I had another folder /etc/xdg/lxsession/LXDE-pi with an autostart file in it. I added the lines to that file and it worked. :rockin:

 

[njs170]

Nevermind I found the answer! You guys rock!

 

[day_trippr]

Problem solved. Looked like I had another folder /etc/xdg/lxsession/LXDE-pi with an autostart file in it. I added the lines to that file and it worked. :rockin:

Well that's a new one. Glad you got it sorted!

Nevermind I found the answer! You guys rock!

Yes, we do indeed rock!

Cheers!

 

[ned567]

Straight from Swiss flow the link on the with flow pi. This is what I received today any fixes? I pretty sure someone else has had this problem.

bought a couple of these this morning and made the same mistake read this post tonight and emailed them straight away and unfortunately they had shipped them an hour before i emailed them.

How did you get on extending your cables?

 

[Noidios]

SOLVED

My (flow meter) install went smoothly up until this point, but now I am stuck.

I have setup my Pi with a static address of 192.168.2.10

Within my router setup, 192.168.2.10 shows up as an (unknown) connected device.
I can successfully ping this IP from both my desktop and the Pi itself, but:
When I try to go to this address via Chromium, I get a 500 error.
When I try to go to this address via my desktop, I get a blank white page.

SOLVED

The file available at https://github.com/RaspberryPints/RaspberryPints is called RaspberryPints-master.zip
once I gave up on this and tried to install via WinSCP, I realized that there was also a file called RaspberryPints-2.0.1.zip available via a link on the RaspberryPints.com install page.

 

[DrunkleJon]

I run \\localhost to get to the page on my pi.

 

[day_trippr]

I run \\localhost to get to the page on my pi.

Presumably with all the IP address references in his post, he's trying to get to the tap list from another machine...

Cheers!

 

[mcangeli]

For those looking to add a monitor... http://www.makershed.com/products/1...ource=email _campaign&utm_term=101LCD Display

 

[Noidios]

Following the (flow monitor troubleshooting) directions below, I get no update via chromium nor any meter data posted to the terminal window while running flow_monitor.py

These instructions say that my AlaMode is not talking to the RPi. What exactly does that mean and how do I fix it?

Made sure flow_monitor.py wasn't running, then typed:
python /var/www/python/flow_monitor.py
No updates anywhere that I can find. After Control C'ing to get out of it, I ran:
ps aux | grep flow

with results similar to this:
pi@rpints ~ $ ps aux | grep flow
pi 4244 1.2 1.0 13484 4840 pts/1 S+ 00:39 0:00 python flow_monitor.py
pi 4256 0.0 0.1 4032 808 pts/0 S+ 00:39 0:00 grep --color=auto flow

BTW, I purchased the refurbed swiss flow valves on ebay a while back. Did anyone have trouble with these? Is there a way to test them to make sure that they aren't the problem?

In a terminal window, check to see if /var/www/python/flow_moniitor.py is running.

Eg:

$ ps aux | grep flow

If it isn't, get it running in the terminal:

$ python /var/www/python/flow_monitor.py

and leave it running while you launch Chromium to your localhost page.
Pour a few ounces and if the page doesn't refresh within a second of stopping the pour, check the terminal to see if the meter data was posted or not.

If you don't see anything, the AlaMode isn't talking to the RPi.
If you see data, it's likely followed by an error status.

[edit]

And, as I mentioned earlier, if you do find the flow_monitor script is running (because it's started with the desktop environment) it's best to stop it so you can run it manually and be able to see what can be incredibly helpful that you won't see if it's running in a background process.

In the above, if you see it running, located its four digit Process ID <pid>, then
$ sudo kill <pid>
to terminate it kindly.

Then you can run flow_monitor manually as described above.
And you can quit that gracefully with Ctrl-C.

Cheers!

 

[mcangeli]

Following the (flow monitor troubleshooting) directions below, I get no update via chromium nor any meter data posted to the terminal window while running flow_monitor.py

These instructions say that my AlaMode is not talking to the RPi. What exactly does that mean and how do I fix it?

Made sure flow_monitor.py wasn't running, then typed:
python /var/www/python/flow_monitor.py
No updates anywhere that I can find. After Control C'ing to get out of it, I ran:
ps aux | grep flow

with results similar to this:
pi@rpints ~ $ ps aux | grep flow
pi 4244 1.2 1.0 13484 4840 pts/1 S+ 00:39 0:00 python flow_monitor.py
pi 4256 0.0 0.1 4032 808 pts/0 S+ 00:39 0:00 grep --color=auto flow

BTW, I purchased the refurbed swiss flow valves on ebay a while back. Did anyone have trouble with these? Is there a way to test them to make sure that they aren't the problem?

I poured water or blew air through mine while they were connected to test.

There are several things to check here...

The basic being that the meters are set up in the right direction (yes, there is a direction they need to be in the flow of the beer and it does matter, I learned that first hand).

Second would be that the sketch was edited and uploaded correctly to the arduino (again, thats something I learned the hardway). You cannot upload the sketch while the python script is running.

Make sure you have the meters connected to the arduino correctly and on the right pins that you specified in the sketch.

There are certain pins (somewhere in this thread) that do not work for this and that cannot be used.

When in doubt, reboot and try pouring a pint.

 

[Noidios]

I have been testing with water - when I asked if there was a way to test the flow meters, I was hoping for a way to check them independent of the RPi.

Meters are facing the right way.

I also learned the hard way about uploading while python was running.

I've tried several different pins on the AlaMode.

I've done lots and lots of reboots - in fact I have been through all of "Step 9" a dozen times now and I think I've tried every hint/tip/trick listed within the thread (other than now knowing) how to remedy the RPi and AlaMode possibly not communicating properly.

I poured water or blew air through mine while they were connected to test.

There are several things to check here...

The basic being that the meters are set up in the right direction (yes, there is a direction they need to be in the flow of the beer and it does matter, I learned that first hand).

Second would be that the sketch was edited and uploaded correctly to the arduino (again, thats something I learned the hardway). You cannot upload the sketch while the python script is running.

Make sure you have the meters connected to the arduino correctly and on the right pins that you specified in the sketch.

There are certain pins (somewhere in this thread) that do not work for this and that cannot be used.

When in doubt, reboot and try pouring a pint.

 

[mcangeli]

I have been testing with water - when I asked if there was a way to test the flow meters, I was hoping for a way to check them independent of the RPi.

Meters are facing the right way.

I also learned the hard way about uploading while python was running.

I've tried several different pins on the AlaMode.

I've done lots and lots of reboots - in fact I have been through all of "Step 9" a dozen times now and I think I've tried every hint/tip/trick listed within the thread (other than now knowing) how to remedy the RPi and AlaMode possibly not communicating properly.

Did you install the init.d script to run the flow_monitor.py? (So that it runs on boot)?

 

[day_trippr]

Running the python script in a terminal and not seeing any pour messages trumps any auto start of the script.

This sounds like a hardware problem. I'd be suspicious of the meter wiring as the meter leads defy intuition (eg: red is NOT power).

Btw, does the latest AVR script turn on the "blink" led on pours?

Chess!

 

[mcangeli]

Running the python script in a terminal and not seeing any pour messages trumps any auto start of the script.

This sounds like a hardware problem. I'd be suspicious of the meter wiring as the meter leads defy intuition (eg: red is NOT power).

Btw, does the latest AVR script turn on the "blink" led on pours?

Chess!

It does not. (from what I can tell... I think thats something that only you and I enabled...)

Its hard diagnosing an issue when I don't know the setup or have access to the pi. I was working from the beginning...

 

[mcangeli]

On another note, I really need to sit down and see if I can make the centipede board work and finish up the code for the RFID tags.

 

[Noidios]

I started out with all 3 of my meters hooked up through a project board to distribute the ground (red on the ribbon wire) and VIN. I've since simplified in order to trouble shoot and just hooked up 1 flow directly to the board.

Day_trippr: Can you please elaborate on one of your earlier statements:
"If you don't see anything, the AlaMode isn't talking to the RPi.
If you see data, it's likely followed by an error status."

I assume I'm in the "don't see anything" category.

Attached is my wiring for the single flow meter. Flowmon compiled for 1 meter on pin 2. RaspPints admin set for 1 meter and keg tapped on Pin 2:

Running the python script in a terminal and not seeing any pour messages trumps any auto start of the script.

This sounds like a hardware problem. I'd be suspicious of the meter wiring as the meter leads defy intuition (eg: red is NOT power).

Btw, does the latest AVR script turn on the "blink" led on pours?

Chess!

 

[mcangeli]

It looks like your yellow wire is in pin 2.

Move it to pin 3, update your sketch and reupload the sketch to the arduino.

Start the flow monitor script and try a pour.

//EDIT

The arduino code is set for pins 8,9,10,11 by default as we know that those are "clean" pins to use.

There's conflicting information on pins 0-4 as far as what actually is used by the pi/alamode to communicate and getting things to work on the lower pins has been iffy at best from the start (some people report that it works fine, some can't get it to work...). I went through a lot of testing on getting it stable and working, and for a setup with 5 or less taps recommend using pins 7-12.

We assign pin 13 to the onboard LED to use for testing purposes (there's a line of code you can add to the sketch to blink the LED on pin 13 when a pour occurs... I actually have it wired to an external LED on my case that blinks when there is a pour.