Automated Temp Tracking - Arduino

Very interesting

I like it... care to share your design? The breadboard is hard to trace :-)

I like the concept, can you bridge the probes to increase the number of inputs? Have you thought about wifi to get it in the house? Any info is helpful.

quote:

Originally posted by WineCountryQ:
I like it... care to share your design? The breadboard is hard to trace :-)

I like the concept, can you bridge the probes to increase the number of inputs? Have you thought about wifi to get it in the house? Any info is helpful.

Sorry I haven't gotten back to you yet. I do not have a schematic yet. I am working on building one. Turns out I am not very good using CAD like application like Eagle. So I am giving fritzing a go. Hopefully by this weekend I will have something.

I have thought about going with wifi but I couldn't justify spending 90 bucks to buy the shield. Maybe some day.

Great idea!

I would be interested in any info you would be willing to share. I have always been interested in electronics and computers. I worked for UNIVAC (now part of Lockheed/Martin) for many years as an engineering aide in R&D. Have been using computers since the advent of PC's. I believe it would be fun to make up one to work with my smoker. I am new to smoking and have been getting great results with mine. It has has been a great winter so far for outdoor cooking.

quote:

Originally posted by Gardener9:
Great idea!

I would be interested in any info you would be willing to share. I have always been interested in electronics and computers. I worked for UNIVAC (now part of Lockheed/Martin) for many years as an engineering aide in R&D. Have been using computers since the advent of PC's. I believe it would be fun to make up one to work with my smoker. I am new to smoking and have been getting great results with mine. It has has been a great winter so far for outdoor cooking.

The whole point of the project for me is to blend two hobbies of mine and also get good data out of my cooks. Reading in the forums here there is lot of talk about keeping a journal of your smoke(temps,notes,etc..). Well I don't like the idea manually doing anything when it comes to data collecting. Also I want to not be tied to my house when I am doing a long smoke and having the wife fill out my spreadsheet isn't always the best idea. I have a long way to go on this project.

I will make it a point to work on getting some schematics made this weekend.

If you were able to supply a schematic I might be able to get my brother-in-law in M'pls to draw up a circuit board and possibly get it made. It would be easy for him as that's what he did as a career and still does some even though he's retired like me. I would acquire the necessary components so he could dimension them properly.

Thanks,
Al

Here is a drawing I made using fritzing. I still need to put some more info on the schematic.

Is A0 thru A5 the probe inputs? Which probes are you using? I'm guessing R1 thru R5 are specific to the calibration of the probes?

WC BBQ

quote:

Originally posted by WineCountryQ:
Is A0 thru A5 the probe inputs? Which probes are you using? I'm guessing R1 thru R5 are specific to the calibration of the probes?

WC BBQ

Yes, A[0-4] are the probe inputs. I am leveraging the probes of the Maverick ET-73 probes. I wanted to use something that was already manufactured and widely available.

This sounds like some of the guys we have around here that work at the Space Center.
Probably smokin knew it from the old forums.They would track cooks in their smokettes and instantly share with friends in their network around the country.

Not sure it had anything to do with cooking ,but was their hobby.

Alright I broke down and redesigned it using Eagle Cad to make it easier to get the PCB made.

Here is the new designed.



I did order a set of PCBs from dorkbotPDX they should be here next week. Hopefully my design is correct. *shrug*

Cool. Are you going to start selling them? I have a few Maverick probes, and I'd be interested in one at the right price (don't know what that would be, though).

I see what looks like maybe a 10k pot on your proto board connected to the LCD. Is that for contrast control? Are you using someones sketch or did you make your own? I'm close to giving this a try, just not sure about the sketch, i'm not the best at sw development. With the ethernet shield it would be neat to put this on a web server for mobile access....

WC BBQ

Did you check your et73 probes for accuracy with the 10K resistors? Just wondering... I like your project so far. I can see many uses for the Arduino on the FEC, maybe even a flameout detector with auto start of the igniter rod. How familiar are you with the FEC controller?

WineCountryQ

The trim pot in the picture is for the contrast of the LCD. You can actually eliminate it and tie it directly to ground. That is what I am doing in with my last drawing.

I will also provide my sketch for the arduino. I am actually waiting on a printed PCB that will act as the shield.

I will provide more detail information once I get home. I just started a 10day vacation.

I want everyone to know that this setup provides temps to a lcd and a json data set via http. So all the pretty stuff with the graphs and data collection is actually done on a webserver that is accessible via the internet. I do this so I can access it from my computer/phone etc.

Enjoy your vacation, maybe we can discuss on your return.

quote:

Originally posted by WineCountryQ:
... I can see many uses for the Arduino on the FEC, maybe even a flameout detector with auto start of the igniter rod. How familiar are you with the FEC controller?

Just the normal warning, any modifications will void your warranty/support.

CS used to have that feature, but because of KCBS contest rules removed it. There is also the hazard that if the reignite doesn't start until the pot is full you could have a MASSIVE temp problem.

Finally got my PCBs from dorkbotPDX.

Check it out.

Great soldering skills! Is that one or two layer PCB?

quote:

Originally posted by WineCountryQ:
Great soldering skills! Is that one or two layer PCB?

It is a two layer board. I designed it in Eagle and shipped the board off to DorkbotPDX. If you are interested in the schematic I can post it when I get home tonight.

Does that piggy back on an arduino board? Trying to understand the mechanics of it all... Did you go to a workshop at DorkbotPDX or just have them make it for you?

quote:

Originally posted by WineCountryQ:
Does that piggy back on an arduino board? Trying to understand the mechanics of it all... Did you go to a workshop at DorkbotPDX or just have them make it for you?

It piggy backs on an arudino. When I first started into the whole thing I didn't want to invest much time designing a board that contained both the arduino and the ethernet. It was much easier to build a shield. I have attached a pic of one of my alpha sheilds all attached.

The enclosure.

If anyone is interested I am currently doing two tenderloins with my "MeatLogger"

2012.03.03 - Pork Tenderloin Porkett

So, when can I buy one?

This thing is beyond sweet! I can't believe I'm watching your two pork tenderloins cook in real time!

I'm on the verge of pulling the trigger on a Stoker just for temp monitoring purposes for my FEC-100 but....

Maybe I should wait and see what develops, everywhere!

That's cool. Do you have a hardwired LAN jack near your cooker?

quote:

Originally posted by WineCountryQ:
That's cool. Do you have a hardwired LAN jack near your cooker?

Yeah. Ethernet is very stable. :-) and personally way cheaper to use.

Hi,

Mike, this is the best implementation of the Arduino that I have seen.
I really like the shield.

I had a question,
while researching this same project I came across
http://hruska.us/tempmon/
the author uses a 22k resistor.
I tried that with his code and still can't seem to get a good reading.

Would you mind sharing the portion of code where you convert from the thermsitor to farenheit?
I assume that will require 10K resistors, which I can get.
Eventually are you going to sell the shields?
They are awesome.

I'm thinking of doing the same thing that you are, have all the stuff.

Also have you considered thermocouples?

Eventually I want to SMS notifications to my phone if the temp starts going wacky

I'm having fun learning the arduino, just discovered it a week or so ago!

thanks