The series of projects I have been slogging through at work has left me pretty burnt-out when it comes to coding in my free time. Fortunately my workload is starting to lighten, so I am finally going to put the Arduino a friend gave me for Christmas to use. Arduino is an inexpensive open-source microcontroller platform based on Amtel’s ATMEGA chip. For a much better and much lengthier explanation of Arduino, check out the official site in the link above.
For my project I will be starting small; using my Arduino to monitor my fermenter. I will be keeping track of fermentation temperature with a Digital Temperature Sensor and using a Photo Interrupter to track airlock activity. Data will be output to an LCD Display and a WiiChuck communicating over I2C via an Adapter will be used to toggle the data being shown. Data will also be logged to my PC and eventually streamed live to this blog.
While this is a simple project, it will act as the jump off point for future Arduino experiments. I would love to end up with a fully automated, steam powered brewing system a la Yuri’s Brew Hut. Once I get the initial code written to control my monitoring system, I’ll post it here for anyone who is looking to build their own setup.
Actually, Jesse (who gave me the Arduino) is working on a very similar project of his own, but is much further along. So, I’ll admit in advance that the code I will be running will most likely be a bastardization of the work he has already done.
After my initial project is finished, I plan on building some submersible sensors for measuring mash tun and sparge temperatures. If you have any ideas for other brewing related projects, let me know and I will try to work them in.
Cheers!
Kevin