Is anyone here using Raspberry Pi as a PID? I’m in the middle of switching my system over from 110v to 220v and I’m seriously tossing around the idea of eliminating my control panel and PID’s and replacing them with RaspberryPI and a touchscreen. Been researching it a bit now. There is now a prebuilt component from Adafruit that will allow me to use my quick connect RTD temp sensors. I’ve found a lot of nice programs that have been written to control it all. All the hardware is pretty economical. I also like the idea of it being web-based. This will give me the option of not even having to leave my recliner to brew!!
I also like the idea that I can expand it and store recipe profiles, so when I want a particular brew, I can open that file and all the temperatures are right there should I want to do a step mash. It will also allow me to control my pumps from it. I’ll also be able to run a temp prob from my fermentation chamber and control that. I can easily preprogram it so that it will automatically raise/lower the temp at different stages during fermentation. It will keep a chart of the actual temps over the course of fermentation that I can later print out. All in all, it just sounds so needlessly and overly complicated that I would be stupid to not do it. Has anyone else here done anything similar?
I’ll be using CraftBeer Pi when I move to electric.
(googling Craftbeer Pi)
The developer released an official “hat” and there are third party hats available as well. BrewPi seems to be stuck in vapor ware due to the developer trying to launch a perfect product. CraftBeer Pi is plug-in based and has a vibrant community behind it.
CraftbeerPi looks amazing! But I can’t find a cost. This thing can’t be free for the taking? Or can it?
Copyright (C) 2016 Manuel Fritsch The software is free to use. It’s permitted to modify the software for personal use. It’s not permitted to distribute the modified software. Modification can be distributed via the official CraftBeerPi release only. It’s not permitted to distribute the software in a commercial way without permission.
Think GNU software or CopyLeft.
Pretty cool if you ask me.
Paul
Software is open source and free. I don’t remember the pricing for the hats. There is a very long HBT thread with some third party hats, the official is available on the Facebook page.
This is too good to be true! My pants just got tighter. So I basically just need to figure out the hardware. Shouldn’t be that difficult.
Official board - CBPi Interest Form
There is also a brewpi project to monitor ferment temps, graph them and kick on heat/cold via a relay. It produces a webpage for remote viewing.
CraftBeer Pi is what BrewPi could have been. That thing is a never ending development nightmare. Full hot side control has been talked about for years. The one big plus for BrewPi is the use of a micro controller for the actual code execution and the Pi is just a sever.