Arduino Development Thread

[bonj]

Anyone seen this?

http://www.freetronics.com/pages/jaycar-water-flow-gauge

I'm thinking of putting one on the outlet of my mash tun so I know how much water has gone into the mash.

I have the same flow sensor but I haven't done anything with it yet. It was initially earmarked for a garden watering controller. I bought mine from futurlec.

 

[vortex]

Yeah I saw that, considering trying one in my RIMS to detect stuck mashes and sound an alarm if flow drops below a certain point.

Though, Jaycar says this:

With 1/2" BSP connections and 0 - 80C temperature range, this unit could be used in hot water, although we recommend operation in temperatures no higher than 45C.

so it might not be a viable option afterall

 

[RdeVjun]

Slashdot has a related story: http://hardware.slashdot.org/story/12/10/0...ntation-chamber

 

[Zizzle]

Now this could be a win. Pretty pricey though.

http://dangerousprototypes.com/2012/10/03/...uts-arduinolcd/

 

[Zizzle]

Anyone seen this?

http://www.freetronics.com/pages/jaycar-water-flow-gauge

I'm thinking of putting one on the outlet of my mash tun so I know how much water has gone into the mash.

I, like Ben, have the futurlec version which I have never used.

I seem to remember someone mentioning that they don't work very well for measuring actual volumes precisely, but can't remember where/who.

 

[Edak]

Those flow sensors can only measure with any accuracy if the port is full, which means if you have any air in the tube it won't work. Just something to note...

 

[Superoo]

Hi Edak,
I think that will be same with any other flowmeter. If theres air / bubbles in the fluid it is measured and counted as fluid incorrectly.
But it depends on what accuracy you are trying to achieve, and the purpose of the flowmeter as to whether this is a problem or not.

Its probably too hard to fit an air elimination system to a brew rig, requires floats and stuff.
Although there is a way with a pressure switch, but you then require a bit of pressure in the line so that a pressure drop can be detected and then acted on by the processor.

The best solution is probably to just try and design the system so that it doesnt end up with air in the line in the first place.

There are optical 4-20mA level sensors available for prevention of tanks running out / overfilling etc, but I'm mot sure if you can get them for higher temps.

2c

 

[vortex]

Now this could be a win. Pretty pricey though.

http://dangerousprototypes.com/2012/10/03/...uts-arduinolcd/

I think fitting the LCD software and anything else meaning full inside 32k would be a real challenge.

 

[Malted]

I think fitting the LCD software and anything else meaning full inside 32k would be a real challenge.

Well out of my depth here but the image suggests a 4MB flash memory?

 

[vortex]

Well out of my depth here but the image suggests a 4MB flash memory?

That would be on the LCD itself for fonts and other LCD-related crap. The Arduino Uno R3 has 32k flash for programs itself: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11021

 

[Zizzle]

That would be on the LCD itself for fonts and other LCD-related crap. The Arduino Uno R3 has 32k flash for programs itself: https://www.sparkfun.com/products/11021

Exactly. So what do see taking up extra space on the Arduino?

ezLCD has a text based command protocol. Load your images an fonts into it's flash using a PC and issue a few characters from the Arduino to get them to display. Doing that would probably take up less space than the 16x2 LCD driver lib that arduino has.

 

[Edak]

Exactly. So what do see taking up extra space on the Arduino?

ezLCD has a text based command protocol. Load your images an fonts into it's flash using a PC and issue a few characters from the Arduino to get them to display. Doing that would probably take up less space than the 16x2 LCD driver lib that arduino has.

Sending strings is very inefficient with arduino because they consume ram and flash. This means unless you use the f() feature every string in your program sits permanently in the RAM, of which you only have 2k.

Did you guys read that the next generation of arduino will support ARM processors? That would be cool.

 

[vortex]

Did you guys read that the next generation of arduino will support ARM processors? That would be cool.

Yep, Arduino Due. Only 100mhz though, which is of course enough for a lot of stuff but next to other ARM CPU boards they won't look as good (RasPi/Beagle 700mhz). The new Google ADK2012 boards are based on these boards - they've been "coming soon" for about 6 months

 

[Zizzle]

Sending strings is very inefficient with arduino because they consume ram and flash.

I know you just want to big-note yourself in this thread, and you're probably deliberately missing the point, but if you are using a 16x2 LCD to display text you are probably using strings.

Like this:

https://github.com/mathoaus/braumiser-contr...duino2.pde#L368

or this:

https://github.com/mathoaus/braumiser-contr...uduino2.pde#L86

The ezLCD is no different - if not, more efficient.

Anyway the arduino LCD lib adds ~2kB to the binary size. Which is a fair amount of strings for menus etc. for ezLCD before you get to the equivalent binary size.

And I think you ment storing not sending is inefficient. But as you already pointed out, it is well known and easy to fix.

 

[vortex]

16x2, bah

40x4 vs 16x2 by auvortex, on Flickr


4x40 LCDs by auvortex, on Flickr

40x4 Akafugu do an I2C backpack for these screens (handles the two enable lines), two on the way. Should be here any day.

 

[vortex]

Got my Akafugu 7 segment displays today. Soldered them up tonight. They're nice and bright! Just applied some power so far to make sure My soldering was OK So far, so good. These displays will be used to display HLT and MLT temps on the brewery (so, not with an Arduino...)


Akafugu 7 segment display by auvortex, on Flickr


Akafugu displays connected by auvortex, on Flickr

 

[bonj]

Got my Akafugu 7 segment displays today. Soldered them up tonight. They're nice and bright! Just applied some power so far to make sure My soldering was OK So far, so good. These displays will be used to display HLT and MLT temps on the brewery (so, not with an Arduino...)


Akafugu 7 segment display by auvortex, on Flickr


Akafugu displays connected by auvortex, on Flickr

Nice!

Are you sure you didn't want some GIANT 7 segments? :lol:

 

[vortex]

Perfect for when you need to see the temps from 5kms away Actually, with the brightness of these they can probably do that job too

 

[bonj]

Perfect for when you need to see the temps from 5kms away Actually, with the brightness of these they can probably do that job too

LOL yeah. I keep trying to think of a reason to get them because they look rad....

 

[Zizzle]

40x4 Akafugu do an I2C backpack for these screens (handles the two enable lines), two on the way. Should be here any day.

Looks a lot like the LCD I used in the orginal brewbot.

But the i2c will be a win. Look at the ribbon cable I had to use to run that LCD: