Andys Automated Controller Build

[andytork]

Hi all,

Its about time to start turning the prototype into a working controller . This is going to take some time so I thought I would start a thread for anyone interested.

I just scored this enclosure for $35. Dimensions are 40cm x 40cm x 20cm. it is IP66 however has quite a few existing holes. Some I will re-use, some I will plug





Over the next few weeks I will be attempting to fit the following into it

1 x Touchscreen ARM controller
1 x Arduino Mega 2560
11 x relay boards (6 duals, 5 singles or a combination of)
4 x Solid state relays
1 x power supply

Numerous sensors etc

Here is the current rig as it stands waiting for its automation. Whats not shown is the rims unit (recently bought from punkin http://www.aussiehomebrewer.com/forum/inde...howtopic=64741) and my 30 plate chiller



In order to make me concentrate on this I am selling all my basic AG gear (will be listing most of in the marketplace thread later today). This will force me to work on the new rig as I need to brew soon

Andy

 

[andytork]

First mock-up

One removing all the din rail / wires etc I found a nice removable plate underneath held in its corners by nuts.

As I will be using a few SSR's the plan is to sandwich another plate between this mounting plate and the enclosure, this plate will be made out of my left over 6mm aluminium plate I used for my fridge shelves, by spreading these around the enclosure and using heat sink paste I should get good thermal transfer and not need the ridiculous heat sinks people use for their SSRs. I will be monitoring internal temperature of enclosure at key locations using DS1820's

The plan is to stack the normal relays or replace them with larger versions once I have a rough idea of wire routing etc. only have 4 in there at the moment, those are the duals, 1 for each ball valve

The arm will be mounted in the door as it will only require power and a serial connection to the arduino. Out comes the plasma cutter for this hole followed by probably a new paint job for the enclosure

I am using a sensor shield for mockup as my mega is wired up on my desk. Waiting for a 2nd one to arrive from the orient!

 

[raven19]

In order to make me concentrate on this I am selling all my basic AG gear (will be listing most of in the marketplace thread later today). This will force me to work on the new rig as I need to brew soon

I hope stocks are up also Andy!

The touchscreen controller will be something many of us will be keen to see progress I reckon.

 

[andytork]

Been a while but I am progressing again.

Bubbler (seen bootom next to PSU) is causing some EMF issues with the arduino, shouldn't be too hard to solve

 

[spog]

will keep an eye on this build, the touch screen sounds very interesting, being able to stop/start for whatever reason and program with a touch screen sounds like a brewers wet dream. ...cheers..spog..

 

[andytork]

EMF issue solved thanks to a MOV (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Varistor). Also a dodgy Arduino mega board (replaced with my spare) which was causing all sorts of grief

Had it running overnight logging any restarts and funny pressure and timing issues to EEPROM, looked good this morning. So its on with the build.

Next step is the BeerXML parser which I can't do on the Arduino as it only has 8k of RAM and XML files are huge, can't be stuffed trying to do it as a stream, so a quick HTML5 convertor will do this.

 

[andytork]

Made a little progress over the last few days, maped out all my connectors, etc

Holes are drilled connectors inserted, the wiring nightmare begins. Hopefully have some major progress over the weekend

 

[andytork]

Been a good day, most of the high voltage wiring done, the bottom panel is 99%

 

[spog]

a wiring nightmare indeed but going to have a hell of a wow/bling factor in the brewery. ..cheers..spog..

 

[andytork]

Not nearly looking half as bad this morning

Just mapped out all the pins. Just got the analogue, one-wire inputs and a buzzer to hook up.
After that it should be plain sailing. Hoping to do an I/O test from the controller in next 2-3 hours.