[Initial Release] RaspberryPints - Digital Taplist Solution

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mcangeli said:
For the flow meters yes.

The meters are hooked directly to the alamode which is serving as the arduino processor for this. I don't believe the pi can get the data from the flow meters with out it.

We're also looking at expanding the number of pins available by adding a third shield on top of the alamode, but thats further down the line.

http://rp.skypainterbrewing.com
is my current tap list. Its live with the flow meters on it. I've also added the untappd brewery feed for my "brewery" (did you know that homebrewers can add their brewery and beer to untappd?) and its pulling the rating and the beer label.

It also automatically posts to untappd for me when a pint is poured. I haven't figured out how to handle guests yet, but I do see some kind of rfid project in the future and fobs for my friends/guests...
Click to expand...

I meant is the alamode a requirement over using an uno or other arduino. Like I said before running cables to the alamode will require a 50' run. If I can put the arduino where the flow meters are I can run a USB over cat6 extender to the pi. Plus I've got plenty of UNOs lying around.
 
fwiw, I requested Arduino-interface-agnosticity (hmm...yeah, that works ;)) on the 'Pints site months ago, although I really do like the AlaMode implementation. It's a nice compact package, though clearly it doesn't fit your specific partitioning needs.

But you may just luck out in the end: the AlaMode commits a bunch of AVR pins to providing interfaces to its Real Time Clock chip (a square wave pin and an I2C pair) as well as a boatload of purposed sockets and headers. It's that RTC interface pin usage conflict that plagued my attempts to get BrewPi to run on the AlaMode.

The "boatload" of AVR pins presumably won't be used (or usable) for their intended purposes, so as to allow them to be available to R'Pints, but the RTC interface pins are decidedly unusable by 'Pints. So the available AVR pin set on an Uno will be a superset of the AlaMode implementation. As long as you can steer the device communication to use a USB port ttyACM(n) instead of the serial port ttyAMA0 there's every reason to believe it'll work just fine...

Cheers!
 
wbarber69 said:
I meant is the alamode a requirement over using an uno or other arduino. Like I said before running cables to the alamode will require a 50' run. If I can put the arduino where the flow meters are I can run a USB over cat6 extender to the pi. Plus I've got plenty of UNOs lying around.
Click to expand...

It *should* work with other boards as long as they're arduino based. However, the alamode is the one that we're developing and testing and setting up on so as far as making it work on the other boards you're kind of on your own.
 
Another one? ;) I tried a few coupons for free shipping with no joy - nothing was actually applicable to random plastic bits.

So...thinking about how to get from meters to AlaMode, here's what I've come up with so far. 3 pin mini XLRs on the meters to latching receptacles on a small panel I'll attach through my keezer lid liner, specific location as allowed by the meter lead lengths.

The backside of the panel will be transitional hard wiring that will lead to a 15 pin D-Sub cut through the rear of the lid (joining all the other connectors and gas bulkheads back there) to a fabricated mating cable leading to Dupont terminations for the AlaMode. Data will travel over twisted pairs, 5VDC power and DC return over dedicated/larger gauge wires.

The two gating factors will be the length of the 3 conductor cables that show up with the meters, and whether I can cram the ends into a mini XLR housing (Swissflow used some beefy looking wire for these things)...

Cheers!

flow_meters.jpg
 
I have bev seal 235 installed in my kegerator. 3/16 ID 5/16 OD. The swiss flow meter is a 3/8 male thread. Anybody know where I can get a 5/16 x 3/8 BSPP john guest fitting? (actually, 16 because I have 8 taps). Mine all came with the 3/8x3/8 JG fittings as well, but I haven't seen a 3/8 straight x 5/16 fitting either.

Also, how many meters does one alamode support?
 
When I get home I'll post the link to the mini xlr's I just got. They have a much bigger mounting hole. Are all metal and cost the same as the little cheapos
 
calebstringer said:
I have bev seal 235 installed in my kegerator. 3/16 ID 5/16 OD. The swiss flow meter is a 3/8 male thread. Anybody know where I can get a 5/16 x 3/8 BSPP john guest fitting? (actually, 16 because I have 8 taps). Mine all came with the 3/8x3/8 JG fittings as well, but I haven't seen a 3/8 straight x 5/16 fitting either.

Also, how many meters does one alamode support?
Click to expand...

Check the link I posted a couple of posts back.
 
calebstringer said:
I have bev seal 235 installed in my kegerator. 3/16 ID 5/16 OD. The swiss flow meter is a 3/8 male thread. Anybody know where I can get a 5/16 x 3/8 BSPP john guest fitting? (actually, 16 because I have 8 taps). Mine all came with the 3/8x3/8 JG fittings as well, but I haven't seen a 3/8 straight x 5/16 fitting either.
Click to expand...

[edit - posted wrong item]

One of these might work - if the stem end is the 3/8".
http://www.freshwatersystems.com/p-2393-john-guest-reducer-stem-516-x-38-stem.aspx

Also, how many meters does one alamode support?
Click to expand...

10 was mentioned a couple days ago, but confirmation was needed...

Cheers!
 
OK looking forward to getting this setup!

Question #1

Setting up with a hardwired Ethernet cable, but want to use a USB Wifi adapter once its setup to make edits.

How/where do I access the wifi USB adapter to be able to enter the network password??

Thanks!

TD
 
calebstringer said:
thanks for the link, but I really want push connect for my beer line, not barbed. Thats the whole reason I went over to the bev seal line....

If i can get those fittings, I will alpha test 8 for everybody
Click to expand...

Sorry, I posted the wrong item. I changed the link to what looks like a 3/8" stem to 5/16" OD tube adapter that should plug into the existing fittings.

Pricey as the dickens, but compared to trying to get that tubing over a barb, it's probably worth it...

Cheers!
 
TrickyDick said:
OK looking forward to getting this setup!

Question #1

Setting up with a hardwired Ethernet cable, but want to use a USB Wifi adapter once its setup to make edits. How/where do I access the wifi USB adapter to be able to enter the network password??
Click to expand...

You can go this route from the local display (if you have one)

or go this route from a Putty session if you're headless...

Cheers!
 
for anyone who ordered the refurb flow meters from ebay in the past few days i have a bit of info.
i messaged the seller asking if he knew what the previous use of the meters was. here is his response:

"Their primary use was beer. They are food grade and have been cleaned and refurbished. I have so many that it's hard to tell which ones were used and which ones are new. Depending on how many you order you'll usually get a mixed batch.

- nvd85"
so who knows. some of us may be getting new meters....
 
and not to rub it in, but i ordered 4 before i posted on here about the availability and he accepted 19$ each :p
 
Since everybody seems to be buying up their parts now I find myself being lazy and wondering if anyone has found the best (read speedy and cheap) source for the a la mode? I asked Mr. Google and he only gave me two places to order it from, otherwise d'ya think a bulk order would possibly be arrangable/actually worth it?
 
Quick question. I'm looking to do some keg level monitoring using another method (other than flow meters). I got Raspberry Pints to display the keg level, but now what do I need to update/change to get that image to change on the screen. Is there a script or do I manually have to update the db? How do I do this, I don't see the obvious answer here.
 
Isn't there an html command you can add to the php that causes the browser to refresh itself after the specified delay?

Could swear that came up in here before...

Cheers!

[edit] Reading this I realize I totally missed the point. My bad. There are posts about 1300 entries back (wow!) on how to embed the html command to have the php code automatically refresh the browser on a periodic basis (the example given was 600 seconds); and there is a manual method for causing a browser to refresh from a remote location, but neither is suited for the need to make kegs shrink in front of your eyes. Sorry ;)
 
machfive55 said:
Quick question. I'm looking to do some keg level monitoring using another method (other than flow meters). I got Raspberry Pints to display the keg level, but now what do I need to update/change to get that image to change on the screen. Is there a script or do I manually have to update the db? How do I do this, I don't see the obvious answer here.
Click to expand...

The pours.php script we're using for the flow meters would work as long as your code can pass two variables to it.

It also refreshes the local display.

I'm not at my computer now but if you want to email me mcangeli at gmail.com I'll answer in a little while with a copy of the script and the table changes needed.
 
How do the flow meters send their data to the micro controller. I assume it's just an on/off pulse. Wondering if it would be possible to use ds2413 as a 1-wire gpio. And use it get around using the alamode. Which I assume is being used to process/temporarily store and then output pertinent information gleaned from the calibration algorithm. And not simply because the pi is unstable.
 
It wasn't about anything to do with the reliability of the 'Pi, per se. The group's conclusion was that the AVR provided a "won't miss a pulse" reliable counting mechanism at the expected flow sensor pulse frequency that running an ISR on the 'Pi couldn't be trusted to keep up with.

In that context, an addressable two bit switch is no help...

Cheers!
 
wbarber69 said:
How do the flow meters send their data to the micro controller. I assume it's just an on/off pulse. Wondering if it would be possible to use ds2413 as a 1-wire gpio. And use it get around using the alamode. Which I assume is being used to process/temporarily store and then output pertinent information gleaned from the calibration algorithm. And not simply because the pi is unstable.
Click to expand...

There was a really good write up about the flow meters somewhere, I'll have to see if I can find it.

I do not believe that they will work one wire. (but don't quote me on that).

I do however, believe that you will be able to use the uno though in place of the alamode. Its a matter of changing the serial in the arduino editor when you upload and then changing the line in the flow_meter.py script to read from the USB serial instead of the onboard.
 
so I am at the get updates and get upgrades part of setup and it failed. I got an error message.
it was during the upgrade part

Get 108 http blah blah balah
the next line says err http
the one next is connection failed 90.90.130.39
get 109- get 113 worked.
then a message failed to fetch blah blah blah
then finally
UNable to fetch some archives, maybe run apt-get update or try with -- fix-missing?

Advice??

TD

edit-

so I did:
sudo apt-get update -fix-missing
however, it was the UPGRADE part that puked. Do I need to re-run the upgrade part?

also, is there on-board memory on the Rpi ? if I screwed something up is there a way to rest and start over?

I'm thinking I'll need to run this again:
sudo apt-get upgrade

also I set my IP through the router by reserving the IP address for the WiFi Dongle I'm using, which is a easy way to do it.
 
apt-get update looks through your installed package list and compares what's available in the matching repositories and builds the list that upgrade will use.

Until you actually do the apt-get upgrade there's been no change of state in your local kit...

Cheers!

[edit] I missed this:
also, is there on-board memory on the Rpi ? if I screwed something up is there a way to rest and start over?
Click to expand...

Your best bet is to get an SD card reader/writer and create a backup image on your peecee or mac whenever you've accomplished something significant. I use windiskimager32 on my peecee and have images that start with a clean Raspbian/LXDE installation, followed by a clean Raspberry Pints installation, followed by a clean BrewPi installation, then a series of images that captured all the things I've done since (motion detector, temperature logger, etc). When I built my development system I used the latest stable image from the 'Pi that runs my keezer to burn another SD card, plugged it into the new system, changed the system name and IP address assignment, updated the secure wifi connection data, and it was running just like its sibling.

I couldn't even begin to count how many hours having backup images has saved when recovering from the multitude of coding sins I have inflicted on my development system :D

Also, an extra SD card is another time saver. I keep the latest stable image on one...
 
Thanks

I found that my wifi Dongle is ridiculously slow and the install and setup is going much more smoothly with a hardwire connection. I am pretty sure that future management via WiFi will be simpler as the amount of data I'm working with will be much much less.

I will keep a backup of the SD card on my PC once I have it initially configured as I would like.

I am at the point of the setup, where I am directed to open a web browser and download the raspberry pints. It says to click on releases and I see there is the initial release, and then there are also three Hotfix files. Are there any instructions as to how to apply the hotfixes which I assume I will perform last? Or is the hotfix unnecessary (it says version 1.0.3.395)

TD
 
OK!

Awesome! I have it working! I need to move it to its final destination however.

Is there a way to show kegs that might be in a different tap room? For instance, I have installed a tap on my ferm/kegerator fridge where I can carbonate and also serve beer in my basement brewing area, but my main serving area is upstairs in an outdoor kitchen. Is it possible to draw a line between tap #6 and tap #7?

Can you show kegs that are conditioning/not serving beer but are soon to be tapped?

This is really really cool guys!

What are the limitations on the background image and the brewery logo in terms of pixel dimensions/size/color depth etc? Could I use a photograph jpg for instance?

TD
 
day_trippr said:
You can just go to the last hotfix version and install that one, it's a complete kit...

Cheers!
Click to expand...

OK. I downloaded the hotfix. How do I patch? Can I use WinSCP or do I need to connect the RPi box back up to a mouse keyboard and monitor to patch the hotfix? Not entirely sure its going to affect me to use as-is without the fix. Still need to bring it outside to my main serving area and get it setup on the TV there, power run, etc.

Thanks!

TD
 
TrickyDick said:
OK!

Awesome! I have it working! I need to move it to its final destination however.

Is there a way to show kegs that might be in a different tap room? For instance, I have installed a tap on my ferm/kegerator fridge where I can carbonate and also serve beer in my basement brewing area, but my main serving area is upstairs in an outdoor kitchen. Is it possible to draw a line between tap #6 and tap #7?

Can you show kegs that are conditioning/not serving beer but are soon to be tapped?

This is really really cool guys!

What are the limitations on the background image and the brewery logo in terms of pixel dimensions/size/color depth etc? Could I use a photograph jpg for instance?

TD
Click to expand...

There currently is not a way to show conditioning or coming kegs. What some have done is create extra taps for this.
 
Thanks.

I added my beers and kegs. Looking good! I notice the glass depicting the color on the left side of the display, the color of the beer seems to color outside of the lines of the glass. Anyone else noticed this?

Also, do I need to power down the Raspberry Pi Unit or can I simply unplug it? I need to move it from my office to the beer tap area.

Thanks! Signing off for the night!

TD
 
TrickyDick said:
Thanks.

I added my beers and kegs. Looking good! I notice the glass depicting the color on the left side of the display, the color of the beer seems to color outside of the lines of the glass. Anyone else noticed this?

Also, do I need to power down the Raspberry Pi Unit or can I simply unplug it? I need to move it from my office to the beer tap area.

Thanks! Signing off for the night!

TD
Click to expand...

Are you using Firefox? It displays weird in Firefox and IE. Looks correct in chrome/chromium

You can unplug it but you run the risk of messing up the os. The preferred way is:

sudo shutdown -h now

When logged in via command line or you can use the shutdown button on the desktop.
 
mcangeli said:
Are you using Firefox? It displays weird in Firefox and IE. Looks correct in chrome/chromium

You can unplug it but you run the risk of messing up the os. The preferred way is:

sudo shutdown -h now

When logged in via command line or you can use the shutdown button on the desktop.
Click to expand...

Thanks!

So how do you restart it once you power it down? Just plug it back in?
I think the issue with the display is a firefox. It looked good on the HDMI out to my monitor. I think I'll need to connect back to my monitor and keyboard to issue the shutdown command? How do I log in with Command Line interface via network?

Thanks again!

TD
 
Yes you just plug it back in.

You need something like putty on windows to login via ssh.
 
TrickyDick said:
OK. I downloaded the hotfix. How do I patch? Can I use WinSCP or do I need to connect the RPi box back up to a mouse keyboard and monitor to patch the hotfix? Not entirely sure its going to affect me to use as-is without the fix. Still need to bring it outside to my main serving area and get it setup on the TV there, power run, etc.

Thanks!

TD
Click to expand...

I wasn't clear enough: you only have to install one kit, and that one should be the kit with the last/latest hotfix...

Cheers!
 
should we be looking for pre-filters for the flowmeters? i dont do a secondary and just cold crash. My first few glasses are usually full of gunk. is this going to be detrimental to the flow sensors?
I've already received my sensors, and alamode, just waiting on the hose barbs and im ready to go.
 

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