Right guys I'm on the first rung of the ladder when it comes to all this. I'm ok with computers, I've put desktops together in the past but now I want to get my head around this phenomenal thing called Arduino
Over the last few weeks I've been reading up on the Arduino, read through a couple of sites that talk one through what the board is and can do. Watched a few videos on guys doing the first steps with connecting the board to a laptop and so on.
Now what I would like to know is, which of the boards (as there seems to be a number of them) would suit me better for building a controller for home brewing?.
This is my main hobby, and I'm looking at building a single vessel system. The board would need to be able to control water temp, pump, and so on.
I'm new to all this, never wrote a program in my life, hopefully with your help I'll get there. I'm willing to give it a go, I love the challenge of something new like this. To be able to build a controller and have it all work would be great.
what kind of board you need mainly depends on the number of in and outputs you require. This is the main difference between the boards.
If you want to control one pump, one heater/cooler and one thermometer, then you can use the Uno or even the nano.
If your pump is a simple on/off device, then you will need a relay to switch the pump. an Arduino can only take about 40mA of current on one of its output pins, but your pump will use a lot more. you will basically hook up your pump to the relay and to high voltage (wall socket) and use the Arduino to turn it on/off. just like a switch.
there are many solid state relays that can work directly with the Arduino, other relays may need another switch like a transistor or mosfet in between.
I assume that you will also have a heater/cooler that you want to control the vessel temperature with. you can do this based on a temperature input. you may want to consider some food grade thermistor or thermocouple if it will be submerged in the water/beer. thermistors will probably work directly on the Arduino analog input pins, but you need to calibrate it (thermistors vary their resistance with temperature and you basically read out resistor values). for a thermocouple, e.g. K-type, you need an extra chip to interface with it.
there is a PID control library that could work great for you in order to control the heater/chiller to reach your target temperature.
I think if you google for the individual parts that you want to control (pump/heater/temperature), you will find many tutorials. writing the program that connects all bits is then obviously something you need to do based on your requirements, but again there are many tutorials on e.g. relay switching...
I'm also in same project. trying to make my one vessel brewery be automated.
right now my system is half automated (means, working with a simple electric control panel and PID)
I will be happy to follow you your progress and see more of it.
adding an arduino will let me choose between automatic and half automatic controlling
at this stage I'm trying to find a arduino code for PID temp controller. (I need a multi step PID code - for the mushing stage).
the board need to read/control:
a flow sensor+ electric valve ( to check the amount of water for mushing and spraging )
a thermocouple + heating element (the multi step PID )
regulating 5000W boiling element for the boil step (may need to reduce the boiling to prevent too much evaporating )
Thanks for the info, like I said I'm so new to all this but it fascinates me. I do tend to stick with something like this, I know I'll get there in the end.
I understand about the heater element having to go through a relay. All I need is a on/off for the element to warm the water, on/off for the pump. some sort of control to heat the water in stages, 56c for 10mins...62c for 60mins...70c for 10mins...74c for 10mins. for an example.
Kipod...Hi
It looks like your further along than what I am. I use a 3 vessel setup at the moment, so I have my thermopot (mashtun) that I will use for the main part. I've just found some 250mm Stainless pipe that will work for the malt pipe. I have a totton pump so all I need now is a few fittings and I can start the build.
hi i'm also about to put a arduino control on my brewery, i would be interested in how you guys are getting on with your controller.. i have a 3V brewery all electrical elements 5.5kw, on in hot lit tun and one in the kettle, i'm just looking at automating my mash for a start then maybe more depends on how easy it is....
hope to here more ..
cheers lynchmanp
kipod:
Hi toonool .
I'm also in same project. trying to make my one vessel brewery be automated.
right now my system is half automated (means, working with a simple electric control panel and PID)
I will be happy to follow you your progress and see more of it.
adding an arduino will let me choose between automatic and half automatic controlling
at this stage I'm trying to find a arduino code for PID temp controller. (I need a multi step PID code - for the mushing stage).
the board need to read/control:
a flow sensor+ electric valve ( to check the amount of water for mushing and spraging )
a thermocouple + heating element (the multi step PID )
regulating 5000W boiling element for the boil step (may need to reduce the boiling to prevent too much evaporating )
I also started working on a project like this. I am very new to Arduino and microcontrollers, as I just recieved my Arduino a few days ago. Maybe we can help eachother out!
My project is brewing wine in a plastic container, the functions that I want to automate are:
Flow induction in the container
Temperature in the room
Creating flow - components
Submersible pump - 12VDC, 2 Ampere, 6.6 Liters per minute
230 VAC to 12VDC adapter (former computer adapter)
Solid State Relay (SSR) for control - Output 5-60VDC, 3A - Input 12mA Logic Current - http://bit.ly/11sH1Na
This is the main thing that I want to automate. It will run every X minutes for 6-8 minutes, creating flow in the container at 6.6 L/min. This will be triggered by either (1) time passed or (2) a door closing - just because it is fun to watch the system run as I enter the room.
Temperature sensor - components
Temperature Sensor
230 VAC heater
Solid State Relay (SSR) for control - Output 24-480VAC, 40A - Input 3-32VDC, 6-25mA, with heatsink - http://bit.ly/14FAq6a
Temperature is not very critical for me, as I have a heater that usually keeps the temperature relatively stable. I will probably automate temperature too.
My plan is to detect door open/closed states with a force sensitive resistor. I have written a sketch that so far accomplishes the following:
(1) If the door closes -> Run pump cycle and create a timestamp for next run
(2) If the current time exceeds timestamp -> Run pump cycle and create new timestamp
Events (1) and (2) will trigger the cycle. I have also added code so that event (1) can only happen every X minutes. Meaning frequent door closings will not trigger the pump cycle each time. I spent some time testing this sketch with a LED simulating the SSR, and a sensor that I can trigger with my hand. Everything seems to be working according to plan.
I will probably order SSRs from the internet and visit a local shop for the pump and tank today, unless anyone has any ideas for more suitable SSRs(?).
Sparkfun has a nice 3.3V DC signal to trigger a 10A 120VAC plug relay. While it is not extremely cheap, it might be a good safe idea for this rather than needing to find a reliable 12VDC supply.
I've always thought using an Arduino to automate brewing is an excellent idea, and discussed it with my brewing friend, but never actually got around to doing anything.
Hi Guys.. first of all I'd like to apologise for not being around for this thread. Since Feb (when I joined) this year it's been a series of calamities, laptop, car, illness, but at last there's a light at the end of the tunnel, unless that's some bugger coming the other way.
I've ordered an Uno kit which should be here this week, it's going to be a steep learning curve but I'm looking forward to it. I reread this thread last night to catch up, and I was wondering how you guys that are into homebrewing how your getting on??.
first of all I'd like to apologise for not being around for this thread. Since Feb (when I joined) this year it's been a series of calamities, laptop, car, illness, but at last there's a light at the end of the tunnel, unless that's some bugger coming the other way.