I am looking for guidance on my first project with Arduino. I am new to every aspect of coding so my apologies in advance. I'm looking for comprehensive advise and resources to help me along this learning curve.
The project:
I have carbonated seltzer coming from a draught beer tower, I would like to build a machine to dose various fruit syrups inline as its is being poured into the glass. I'd like to have a display/ touchscreen with the flavor option buttons. The machine will dispense the selected flavored seltzer as long as the button on the touch screen is pressed. Stopping when the button is no longer engaged. Very similar to a soda dispenser.
Current concept:
Install a normally closed solenoid valve attached to the outlet of the draught tower to stop and start flow of unflavoured/ carbonated liquid. (The plain seltzer will be at around 15 psi and pushed with a separate Co2 system.) After the valve, I will have injector ports for the different fruit syrups that will be dosed in via peristaltic pumps. This will need to be controlled to a rate of 8-10ml per 16oz serving. Ideally this will be adjustable via the touch screen to make adjustments for different viscosities and concentrations easy.
I have found many projects for "Barbots" and "Cocktail making robots" so I know the peristaltic pumps are easily possible. What I don't know is how to wire or code the system so the solenoid and peristaltics fire simultaneously and how to wire these to a touch screen so they fire only when a button is pressed.
What arduino devices would you recommend or think is necessary for this? I am trying to keep things as simple and clean as possible.
Any recommendations for peristaltic pumps that can be adjusted easily?
I have been looking at EZO-PMP™ Embedded Dosing Pump but they are expensive.
Any resources for touch screens? I know nothing about creating an interface for the touch screen, what is the best option for a beginner?
Right now the list of unknowns is immense, but I hope with some help I can work it out!
P.S. If the interface setup is too steep for a beginner, are there any services I could pay for help?
Start with a list of all the I/O devices you envision - solenoids, pushbuttons, displays, pumps. In short, anything the Arduino will need to communicate with digitally (a single input or output pin), analog, serial (I2C, SPI, etc.), wireless, IR remote, etc. This will give you an idea which Arduino will fit best with the application.
A for instance - you need eleven digital inputs. Do you a: wire all eleven directly to Arduino I/O pins, thereby reducing the number of pins available for other needs or, b: wire eight of the inputs to a shift register, using only three pins, and wire the remaining three inputs directly or, c: connect all eleven inputs to an I/O expander with sixteen individually configurable I/O using I2C (two pins)? The last two options necessitate adding hardware in the form of integrated circuits. The last option would leave you with five pins available to use as digital input or output.
Lots of choices, you have to decide which works for you and your level of ability.
Hey guys! Thanks so much for your responses. It has taken me some time to review, digest and explore. @johnwasser, that may be the cheapest option, however since I would like to play around with dosing specific measurements easily, I am going to start with the more expensive "logic" pumps. They have some good tech support to help with questions. If they deem unnecessary I'll scrap them on the second build. I have decided to cut the number of pumps in half and use momentary push-buttons instead of a display for now. Keep things as simple as possible. Below is a list of my components. Besides a general review, I was hoping someone could give guidance on how to deliver appropriate power to these components as efficiently as possible. 12v Power supply to some sort of bank or divider? Am I correct in thinking the UNO can power the 5 v pump "logic" on its own while everything else requires 12V power. Can this 12V all come from one source? Does it require a transformer before going to power the UNO?
Sorry again for my ignorance, the simplest questions can be the hardest to find answers to online.
They can be easily programmed to dose a set amount of product over a set length of time. I reached out to the company to ask for some guidance. This was the response.
“Hmmm, ya know, the more I think about this, the easier it gets.
The pumps can be set to pump X volume on startup (a very handy feature!).
When you press the button, The Arduino will flip a switch that powers on the pump.
When the pump is done, it will give a signal to the Arduino.
Then the Arduino shuts off the switch.”
Relay for Pumps? – Do I need Solid State Relays for the motors? Perhaps these are the “switches” he was talking about. I have also come across people using motor drivers like the one below.
There was an example wiring diagram for setting up a singular EZO-PMP pump and the UNO but it had no other components. I expanded on this diagram in the attached PDF.
3 X Push Button Momentary Switch 5A 12V AC/DC
1 X Solenoid – 12V OR 24V
DL10 AXIAL SOLENOID VALVE WITH POLYPROPYLENE BODY, CLOSED WHEN DE-ENERGISED (NC)
Options of 24V DC and 12V DC – Power 18W
1 X Arduino – Microcontroller – UNO
Again, any advise or tips would be greatly appreciated.
Hello
An adequte power supply unit is missing.
A real block diagram with all hardware parts to identify the interfaces is missing too.
Have a nice day and enjoy coding in C++.
Wow. That should make things easier differently challenging. It looks like you give it power and then the Arduino can talk nice to it and get it to do all kindsa things you'd be on your hands and knees taking care of in software.
So the manual runs to dozens of pages, but the print is quite big… I think a good effort could glean enough simple commands to proceed.
I think I noticed a link to some Arduino example code - if I did*, that is certainly somewhere you'll want to start, by getting something you had very little to do with the coding of which to function and demonstrate the techniques for control over the USRT (?) or I2C protocol.
*Did, just can't see it on my device at this time.
So I've changed the plan a little and taken another stab at a wiring diagram.
New concept:
Three dosing pumps controlled by individual momentary push buttons. All buttons additionally actuate a solenoid valve that opens the flow of liquid. Dosed syrup will meet liquid flow to create a flavored pour. The fourth button being for a unflavored plain pour.
I have included manual potentiometers to regulate the speed of the pumps. They will be set to specific values then untouched during normal push-button operation. The script will actuate the pump and valve when button is pressed. I will throttle the pump to obtain the desired dosing rate per set amount of pour time. Does anyone have experience using a potentiometer and push button in tandem?
In general, am I missing anything? Do I need any fly-back diodes on top of the MOSFETs and/or the Relay?
I am planning on running everything off a 12V wall adapter then stepping down to 5V with a buck converter to power the UNO, potentiometers (via the UNO), relay and signal through the push-buttons. I could not find many examples of this being done online. Is this not a good idea?
