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What do i need?  (Read 7697 times)

Trall333

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I have a small Giesen W1 roaster. It uses J tape probes.
So i was wondering what do i need from Phidgets to get it running with roastmaster app
Or would it work with arduino witch i already have.
Thanks.

Danny Hall

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Hi

You'll need to make sure the existing probe is not integrated into the mechanics of the roaster. A direct question to the manufacturer is the best way to determine this. Probe wires are extremely sensitive to voltage, and cannot be split or otherwise tapped. So, if the probe is used (for heat control, or hi limit, etc.), you'll need to look into replacing the existing probe with a dual probe, or modding the roaster in a different way to accept a second probe.

As far as Roastmaster is concerned, Phidgets require a temperature sensor for the probe, and a network host to make its data available to Roastmaster. See this page...http://rainfroginc.com/documentation/setting-up-phidgets/

There are diagrams and parts lists for using either the Phidget SBC or a laptop as a network host. If you're wanting more than two probes, you'd go with the 4 port temperature sensor, otherwise the 1 port will suffice.

Trall333

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Is there a way to print the graph?
And can i add air temperature on the same graph as bean temp?
Thanks.

Danny Hall

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You can't print directly from the analyzer - you'd need to take a screenshot by pressing the Home and Sleep buttons at the same time. Then, you can print that screenshot from the Photos app.

Sure - the graph shows everything that the roast contains, and you can have as many curves per roast as you like. You'd just create two separate Reading curves - Bean Temp and Air Temp. If your probe hardware and roaster supports 2 thermocouples, you'd be able to bind each of those curves to a separate thermocouple and sample readings during the roast.

Have a look at this video... http://rainfroginc.com/documentation/roasting-in-the-analyzer-preview-trailer/

In the screencast, I use a Profile to automatically create the curves, but you can create them manually in each roast as well. The end result is the same - two curves sampling independent data - Bean Temp and Ambient Drum Temp.

Trall333

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And how about arduino. Would it work with the app.
Thank you for your time and this app it is amazing.

Danny Hall

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Thanks for the kind words!

The key would be installing Linux so that it could run the Phidgets Webservice software to manage the temperature sensors. The board just needs a wifi adapter and USB ports for the Phidget temperature sensors. There are users who use the temperature sensors with the Raspberry Pi, so I guess it's possible, though I've never tried it.

From what I've read getting Linux installed was tricky with Arduino before due to the limited memory of the Arduino boards. Seems they have a new model(s) out now that can run a full install. If that's the case it should be possible, but you'd have to upload and manage the packages needed to run the temp sensors yourself.

The Phidgets SBC makes it all very easy with a web admin, and Debian Linux is preinstalled - all the user has to do is upgrade when new packages come out. Not that it's hard with Arduino to do that - it's probably very easy - just a few extra steps.

Trall333

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Hi again, I have a few more questions  ;D

Is there an example somewhere of what Roastmaster expects to be served by the host? I've been trying to set up a connection between an Arduino and Roastmaster using a Mac as a host but have not been able to get them to link together.

I've guessed that I need to be hosting something at [serial number]._phidget_ws._tcp.local:5001 but I am just not sure what. Arduino returns a number in the range of 0-1023 while Phidgets uses 0-1000 so that shouldn't be terribly difficult to match, and I am guessing that the Phidgets web server delivers some sort of key/value pair for each of it's sensors but the tricky bit is how to deliver them.

As far as I can tell the people using Raspberry Pi with Phidget sensors are using the Phidgets web hosting solution and my problems is that I have not been able to find anywhere a description of how that host presents the sensor data.

Thanks again for your time!

Danny Hall

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You wouldn't want both the Mac and the Arduino together. If you're using a mac host, the Temperature Sensor would just connect directly to the mac and the web service runs on the mac. The Arduino replaces the mac (or Phidgets SBC) as the host, so the Mac is not necessary, and the web service runs on the Arduino.

Though I've not done it myself, it should be something along the lines of installing Linux and then the Phidget Webservice package on the Arduino. I believe that the Bonjour networking protocol needs to be installed as well, but it's possible that's installed with the web serve. Then, you should just be able to connect the Temperature Sensor to one of its USB ports. From there, the web service would broadcast what the Phidgets software running in Roastmaster needs to connect.