ECC Forum

Hi,

I know the I2C bus is not plug and play... but it seems that creating some connection from the BCS to an Arduino over this bus would make really good sense: analog sensing, additional digital I/O, digital sensors, motor control, etc.

Has anyone, especially the developers, given any thought or put any energy into connecting these two via this bus? Since it is dead for the displays, might as well put it to legitimate use... no?

-BD

Not sure what you mean by I2C being dead for displays as many people use them.

In terms of expansion choices, there are some new options in the works right now.

Well, if 4.0+ doesn't support them, and they aren't being made any longer, what would you call them besides DEAD?

Can you be more specific about what's in the works?

-BD

You're talking about the old expansion board, not the displays. Brewers hardware started producing the displays that Brewtroller used to make and are available here: http://www.brewershardware.com/BCS-7-Se ... splay.html

Unfortunately, I cannot be more specific about future hardware at this time.

My bad... I thought these were OOS and not supported going forward, but now I remember it was the expansion units.

Sooo, ok understood on the hardware front, but any idea what it would take to integrate Arduino with BCS other than using binary inputs/ouputs?

-BD

It would take a lot. In addition to needing a lot of new I2C code, it would require reworking all the BCS UI and logic to incorporate the external IO and sensors. That's a huge rewrite.

The BCS provides a robust API that provides a quick route to integration. You could create a stand-alone interface that would talk to the BCS and the arduino utilizing control items from both.

Thanks JonW. I guess I am not certain what you mean by "stand-alone interface".

I am using an arduino to monitor flowmeters, then providing signals (3 to be specific) on the BCS inputs for flow rates matching certain criteria. I am using a standalone LCD to report those flow values from the arduino. It would be great to have those on one screen and not need the separate LCD. I know I can connect the arduino to the network and post simple webpages (could report flow data there), but then it would be on a separate page that I would have to pull up... which is probably not the end of the world... BUT, is there any other way you can think of to get this data more integrated for display?

-BD

BrunDog wrote:Thanks JonW. I guess I am not certain what you mean by "stand-alone interface".

I was referring to a user interface like a custom app or web interface.

Prior to 4.0, I was using one that I put together in Visual Studio. I was only working with data from the BCS, but the concept is the same and you could have data and controls from multiple sources.

I'd like to hear more about your flow meter setup and how it's working when you get a chance.

Oh, I see. Thank you for elaborating and showing your custom work. That is very cool and something that I would certainly love to have but just don't have the time to build and test it. I currently spend what limited time I do have on the big functional stuff and brewing.

Since you are holding out on your hardware, I think I will do the same!! . Just kidding...

I am in the middle of performing this incorporation, but I use the flowmeters to measure the flow out of the pumps. The arduino will provide the flow rates (and totals, though I will use sight gauges for accuracy), reported via LCD or possibly to a web page per above. It generates outputs to the BCS for flow for RIMS tube safety and to cycle pump 2 to match volume entering and leaving the MLT during fly sparging.

-BD

This is a bit of a hack, but since you are using an arduino anyways...

You could wire the arduino to output a variable resitance based on the flowmeter values. These resistances could then be read by the BCS and by modifying the probe coefficients, that probe would read flow rather than temperature.

I used a arduino to measure the volume in my kettle then the BCS read the input from the arduino. Here's a post that explained how I did it.

http://forum.embeddedcc.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1102