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Q-talk *ON TOPIC ONLY* QUALITY ON TOPIC discussion of Backyard BBQ, grilling, equipment and outdoor cookin' . ** Other cooking techniques are welcomed for when your cookin' in the kitchen. Post your hints, tips, tricks & techniques, success, failures, but stay on topic and watch for that hijacking.


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Old 10-13-2012, 03:39 AM   #31
NorthwestBBQ
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Old 10-13-2012, 08:38 PM   #32
Deeg
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Moontz, the current code is on sourceforge at http://sourceforge.net/p/udssupervisor/wiki/Home/ . As you'll see below the screens are ugly and there's a bug where the screen displaying the thermometer temperatures isn't updating with the new values. I assume something needs to be done to tell Android to repaint the screens but my efforts have failed so far. If it's easier for you just send me the files you update/create. Otherwise give me your SourceForge ID and I'll add you to the list of committers. Let me know if there's anything else you need or have questions on the code. Feel free to add your name to the files if you want credit for your work.

To all: here are the screens as they currently look. The end result should look much better but this will give you an idea at how it should flow.

The initial screen looks like this. You can set your smoker temperature and PID settings (which will someday be saved in the DB).
uds1.jpg
Press "New Monitor Session" to start up the monitor. This creates an Android service that will continue to run when you run other apps. This brings up the screen that will display the thermometer temperatures:
uds2.jpg
As you can see there's currently a bug but pretend there are numbers there. :)

Note the icon up near the top which is supposed to look like a drum with flames on it. (Yeah, yeah, it needs work.) That is a notification symbol to indicate that the smoker is being monitored:
uds3.jpg
To shut down the monitor, you select the menu and then press "Stop Monitor"
uds4.jpg

Things I plan to add in the near future:
1) Display a timer.
2) Make # of thermometers and their names configurable.

I'm looking for suggestions on what you'd like to see added/changed.
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Old 10-13-2012, 08:47 PM   #33
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Deeg View Post

Just so you know, I don't plan on using an Arduino. This build is using an Android device and a couple of break-out boards. See CapnBry's excellent HeaterMeter if you want to use Arduino.
Yeah, I saw that your doing PID but I am interested in all the other aspects as well.

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Old 10-19-2012, 10:24 AM   #34
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Update: I've reconfigured the code to use Maven as the build manager.

The IOIO arrived and I've started the basic wiring. I can now hook up my old Droid to the IOIO and they both recognize each other. Next step is to hook up a Maverick probe and see if I can read a temperature.
droid.jpg
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Old 10-20-2012, 03:22 PM   #35
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Deeg View Post
Update: Still moving forward and working on the PID and the screen communication. Moontz, I should have something by tomorrow night. Do you have have suggestions on what to use to plot graphs on Android? I've been looking at http://androidplot.com and it appears to be simple but maybe you have experience with something else.

CapnBry, how steady have your temperatures been using the HeaterMeter? I'm just curious as to what my ceiling will be.

Version 1 of the UDS controller will expect the phone to be tethered to the controller. The IOIO can use a bluetooth dongle for communication so theoretically someone can use an Android phone to connect wirelessly but that will not be my initial focus. Right now the lowest OS version that will be supported is 2.2. I don't see a need for that to change.

For version 2 I have an old Motorola Droid that will spend the rest of its life connected to the UDS. At some point the Droid will act as a web server so I can monitor the UDS when I'm away from home (and also taunt my friends with "look what I'm cooking!").

This road map may change on a whim as I get new cool ideas or lose interest. :)
I am using achartengine v1.0 in mine. It does a pretty good job of displaying graphs. I'm starting to wonder if maybe we should merge our code or maybe work together on the projects. I have graphing, alarms and all kinds of stuff in my project. The only real difference is that I am using an arduino, but all the heaving lifting is done on the phone. I have a server android app which runs on the phone and does all the conversion stuff and then a client app which runs on the user's real phone where you can set alarms and stuff.
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Old 10-20-2012, 09:54 PM   #36
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lkspenser, I went back to look at your original post and your screens are way better than mine; as you can see I'm graphically challenged. :) I love what you did with the alarms and it would be cool to collaborate with you on this project. The only issue is that I plan on including another Java package I'm working on as a proof-of-concept on Android. I want to eventually write the temperature data to a Sqlite DB and make the data available from anywhere on the web, probably using Sinatra as the web server. If you're OK with me dictating how the data is stored and accessed then there shouldn't be any conflicts.
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Old 10-21-2012, 10:25 AM   #37
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I was also planning on storing the data using sqlite, but that was more for being able to go back and look at smoking sessions kind of like a log. Provided that the table structure is mostly 3rd normal factor in its design then I don't think I would have any issues there. It sounds like we have a lot of similar ideas if not exactly for the same purposes.

I think these are the main differences between our ideas right now:

1) ioio board / arduiono + usb shield
2) method for remotely viewing the data and controlling the device
- I wrote my own server which runs on the phone connected to the arduino. It listens for socket connections and writes the temps out to any of the established connections every time it pulls a reading.
- The client app runs on my real phone. It connects to the socket server and if the device switches between wifi, 3g, 4g it seamlessly re-establishes a connection. I have heartbeat packets sent periodically to make sure the socket is still active. If a connection becomes inactive or is dropped it will sound an alarm.
- The client app can set alarms for upper, lower and target temperatures so any probe can be used as the smoker or meat probes.
3) others?

The logic (for me) behind using my own server code was that if either of the devices lost connectivity it would sound an alarm on the client device.

I use the Steinhart Hart equation to get the temperatures and this is done on the server android phone. I am working through providing a way to re-calibrate the probes but I am not too far down that road yet.

I've never done anything that can control a fan, so using stuff already written would be nice.

Maybe we can chat more about this over a more proper medium. feel free to pm me and we can connect there and exchange contact info if you're still interested.
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Old 11-01-2012, 04:41 PM   #38
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Update: I can now read the temp from a Maverick probe. I still need to calibrate it but it can't be off by more than 5 degrees.

My main reason for this update is that the IOIO is on sale for $38 (dunno what the shipping is). Just in case anyone wants to get started.
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Old 11-30-2012, 08:51 PM   #39
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The basic hardware is mostly done. I've put up some pictures at Instructables: http://www.instructables.com/id/E5X914VH7UR7LEK/

I've tested it so far with three thermometers and one blower and I intend to have 5 or 6 thermometers. I haven't put it in a box but hope to do so this weekend. The PID software is written but not tested. On the plus side I got wireless fully working. My focus now is on the software side which will take a few weeks at least.
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Old 11-30-2012, 09:03 PM   #40
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This is beyond cool.
Although....I'm doing my best to keep at least one area of my life free from electronics.
I'm having a hard time though. This is just too neat.
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Old 12-07-2012, 11:21 PM   #41
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The controller box is done. Pics at http://www.instructables.com/id/E5X914VH7UR7LEK/ This baby can handle up to 6 thermometers (I'm a data junkie). While working on it I realized that there's no technical reason the controller can't handle more than one pit but I'll leave that for someone else to implement.

Software is moving forward and I hope to test out the PID part in the next week or so. I'm still working on a scheme to attach the blower to the UDS and haven't hit upon an idea that I like yet.

I got a new drum and spent a very boring weekend removing all the paint. Now I know why you guys say it's worth $40 to have it sandblasted.
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Old 12-08-2012, 02:25 PM   #42
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This is great progress Deeg. Curious, have you considered integrating with one of the super cheap "mini computers" being offered (ie http://www.raspberrypi.org/)? Thought being you could then hook a cheap wireless router up to it and have your data available wirelessly. Not sure how complicated it would be but I imagine if you have your controller talking to android, you could probably get it to talk to another linux dist relatively easily.

Then if you can provide XML from controller via http or a web service, I have an Android app which would hook seamlessly into it and provide a bunch of features out of box (ie alarm, charting, timers, archives, etc .. see signature for details).

Might be a bit ambitious at this point but something to consider if you get to a point where you are thinking what else could I do :)
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Old 12-08-2012, 02:49 PM   #43
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I looked into the Raspberry Pi (and Arduino, of course) but the Android+IOIO is currently the cheapest and simplest way to implement a wireless connection (IOIO is $45 plus a bluetooth dongle for $5-10).

The controller is communicating wirelessly with my phone via bluetooth, so theoretically your app could do the same thing. Once I get things running the way I'd like I can look into adding some sort of plug-in so that external apps have access to the data (or maybe help you write a plug-in for your own app). The code is at https://sourceforge.net/projects/udssupervisor/ if you're curious.

What would be cool is someone with experience designing circuit boards could create one using my design that could then be ordered online. Then people could order a board and parts; the hardest thing would then be just soldering a few components to the board.
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Old 12-08-2012, 02:57 PM   #44
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Ah, I saw the pic with the phone hooked direct to the controller so assumed that it was wired. Bluetooth would not be an issue if you'd like to try integrating at some point. Just let me know.
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Old 12-08-2012, 03:29 PM   #45
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The rasberry PI methrod is not that much more expensive. The Heatermeter/PI is also wreless and can be set up with email.

Rasberry PI $35
Heatermeter $12(components About $15)
Wifi adapter $10
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