Arduino Project: HLT volume display using bathroom scales

[Andy]

OK, I'm dipping my toe into the land of the Arduino and have a Uno board arriving shortly. I now need a "project" to get me started

I'm thinking of taking some cheap digital bathroom scales and interfacing the load cells within the scales to the Arduino board. The plan would be to place the modded scales underneath my HLT and use the scales/arduido + a display as a water volume indicator. There are a few internet projects floating about where people have played around with interfacing scales to arduinos and it doesn't look too difficult. I'm going to need an amplifier chip to boost the load cell voltages and obviously write some arduino code to read the amplified voltage and convert it to a weight value + perform calibration etc.

Anyone else tried similar ? Or think it's a crazy idea ?

[ajclarkson]

I very nearly did exactly this for my current BIAB build instead of a sight glass. Decided against it because it's already taken far too long to get the build done and I've run out of beer so sight glass it is.

Will be watching this with much interest though as I might just add it to my rig in the future.

Why not go whole hog and add a float switch / solenoid valve so it fills the HLT automatically for you

[Andy]

I very nearly did exactly this for my current BIAB build instead of a sight glass. Decided against it because it's already taken far too long to get the build done and I've run out of beer so sight glass it is.

Will be watching this with much interest though as I might just add it to my rig in the future.

Why not go whole hog and add a float switch / solenoid valve so it fills the HLT automatically for you

Once I've got a setup where the arduino is aware of the HLT volume then other future phases may open up

[ajclarkson]

Slippery slope this! Definitely something I want to look into in future. Don't want to automate too much as I do enjoy the process of brewing, but some tasks are definitely fair game.

This looks like it could be relevant, if you haven't already seen it: http://www.instructables.com/id/Arduino ... ell-Scale/

[Andy]

Slippery slope this! Definitely something I want to look into in future. Don't want to automate too much as I do enjoy the process of brewing, but some tasks are definitely fair game.

This looks like it could be relevant, if you haven't already seen it: http://www.instructables.com/id/Arduino ... ell-Scale/

Cheers, yes I'd seen that project. Looks pretty simple doesn't it.

I'm not looking to automate the brewing process but having some little gadgets about is always good

[dean_wales]

Hi Andy,

Dare I ask if this went anywhere in the end? Super cool idea.

Dean.

[Andy]

It stalled as most of the scales I've looked at have multiple load cells which introduces complications. If I could find one with just a single load cell then it could be back on.

I did also consider picking up a Wii Fit board and use that as the weight gauge via bluetooth.

Perhaps a winter project

[kinnockthecat]

Andy, Sylvia has a Wii fit board! If you ask her nicely!

[wmk]

I think my preference would be to use a US ranger to get the height of the liquid. After all, simply using an arduino with weighing scales seems to be making the process more complicated. (You could simply read the weight off the unmodded scales).

I think a good project would be using the arduino to interface a bunch of temperature sensors say LM35s and then using a HC-06 bluetooth interface it to your smart phone module to make it track your temperatures throughout the day, so you can have a minimum, maximum and average temp readings.

Throw in a GSM shield and you have a decent little warning system.

In fact I think I've found a project for my self! I have most of the parts I think.

Edit: https://theraheemfamily.co.uk/~ali/blog ... reporting/ Got this up and running in 15mins, if I get it finished it should be a decent bit of kit for under £15 (without the GSM module).

[Fil]

nice one wmk

as an arduino novice trying to learn, can i ask why you selected the lm35 probes, was it just a case of having them? most arduino beer temperature projects ive come accross seem to use the DS18B20 1 wire sensors.

[Andy]

I think my preference would be to use a US ranger to get the height of the liquid. After all, simply using an arduino with weighing scales seems to be making the process more complicated. (You could simply read the weight off the unmodded scales).
.

US ranger ?

[roscoe]

i would guess ultrasonic

[Andy]

Ah I see!

As I want to see the volume of liquid in my HLT then I'm not keen on having to expose sensors etc to close proximity of the liquid as it will get to between 70-80 degC and be a very humid environment, hence my choice of a weight scale which takes all that out of the equation.

I think that scales are still the way to go, I see Lidl have some cheapo digital bathroom scales at the moment for £8. Worth a punt.

[Andy]

Andy, Sylvia has a Wii fit board! If you ask her nicely!

Cheers, but she might get it back in a box of bits

I'll persevere with the cheapo bathroom scales initially.

[Jim]

Can you not buy a pressure sensor as a discrete component and build it into a baseplate of some kind?