iSpindle - DIY Electronic Hydrometer

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muchtall said:
Has anyone had any success sourcing a vial/tube that would fit in a standard glass carboy neck?

I've measured my carboys, and it seems as though a tube with a total OD (with cap) of less than 28mm ought to fit. I roughly figured that would come to about 20mm ID on a tube with similar wall and cap thread thickness. That should leave just enough room for an 18650 battery (and wire from the bottom) to fit in the vessel. Only problem is, of course, finding the right diameter tube and cap :-/

I'm hoping to obtain a 3D printer soon to prototype a modified sled that would fit an ESP-12F on a narrow carrier board (along with the required electronic components), all inside a ~20mm diameter tube.

Am I insane? Has this been discussed before and I somehow missed it searching this thread?
Click to expand...


I think the issue here is that the wemos is 25.6mm so you only have 2.4mm to play with, I think you'll struggle.
 
The bare ESP-12F (without the WeMos board) is 16mm wide. The real limiting factor is the 18650 battery, which is 18mm, IIRC. I think that, with a custom designed carrier board, fitting everything in a diameter of 28mm should be doable. The problem I've had is finding a source for the appropriate sized tube.

IMG_20170725_220637863.jpg
 
BrunDog said:
Why would you want 3 decimals aka 4 significant digits? It's not that accurate or repeatable, so those values are essentially random.
Click to expand...

That was what I had thought, but I am changing to 4 decimal resolution.

The accelerometer does report values with errors. According to my observation, the error ranges from 0.1 to 0.2 degree most of the time. My iSpindel tilts 62.83 at 1.074 and 18.9 at 1.000. It's roughly 0.6 degree per point. That concludes the error is roughly 1/3 point. So, I bet the sub-point decimal should provide some valid information after filtering.
 
muchtall said:
Has anyone had any success sourcing a vial/tube that would fit in a standard glass carboy neck?

I've measured my carboys, and it seems as though a tube with a total OD (with cap) of less than 28mm ought to fit. I roughly figured that would come to about 20mm ID on a tube with similar wall and cap thread thickness. That should leave just enough room for an 18650 battery (and wire from the bottom) to fit in the vessel. Only problem is, of course, finding the right diameter tube and cap :-/

I'm hoping to obtain a 3D printer soon to prototype a modified sled that would fit an ESP-12F on a narrow carrier board (along with the required electronic components), all inside a ~20mm diameter tube.

Am I insane? Has this been discussed before and I somehow missed it searching this thread?
Click to expand...

You might be able to use this one but the max OD is 33mm ID 21mm, if you take a little off the lip below the cap might fit in a carboy.
 
Hi,
I came across this posting and got so excited that I ordered the PCB and all the parts from the wish-list from Aliexpress. Also ordered some Petlings xl at a local shop. Now the final thing to get is the slide which holds the pcb and battery. I'm looking to get that printed through 3dHubs from a local "dutch" 3dprinter. But the thing is that I'm a bit confused which file to use? one of the files from the original iSpindel Git ? and of so which one from that list? https://github.com/universam1/iSpindel/tree/master/drawer or one of the other sliders mentioned here? Like this one: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2225597

Which one would fit best with the pcb and the petling xl? which is 16 cm x 42 mm and 33mm inside. Thanks W.
 
mr_birra_olanda said:
Hi,
I came across this posting and got so excited that I ordered the PCB and all the parts from the wish-list from Aliexpress. Also ordered some Petlings xl at a local shop. Now the final thing to get is the slide which holds the pcb and battery. I'm looking to get that printed through 3dHubs from a local "dutch" 3dprinter. But the thing is that I'm a bit confused which file to use? one of the files from the original iSpindel Git ? and of so which one from that list? https://github.com/universam1/iSpindel/tree/master/drawer or one of the other sliders mentioned here? Like this one: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:2225597

Which one would fit best with the pcb and the petling xl? which is 16 cm x 42 mm and 33mm inside. Thanks W.
Click to expand...

hope you got a Schottky diode BAT43 instead of the 470 Ohm resistor ;)
 
Hi, no I do not (yet) have a Schottky diode BAT43 instead of a 470Ohm resistor. I just purchased all the items from the which-list assuming they where the ones to use. I did not solder anything yet so I can still change parts. I did not read up all the discussions. So why should I use the BAT43 diode instead? (or can you refer me to the part that deals with it).
 
mr_birra_olanda said:
Hi, no I do not (yet) have a Schottky diode BAT43 instead of a 470Ohm resistor. I just purchased all the items from the which-list assuming they where the ones to use. I did not solder anything yet so I can still change parts. I did not read up all the discussions. So why should I use the BAT43 diode instead? (or can you refer me to the part that deals with it).
Click to expand...

I've had no problems using the resistor on both of my iSpindels.
 
Just as an aside though, and an update on battery charge length, I've set my current iSpindel to send a reading to Ubidots every 15 minutes and the battery has lasted for over 40 days (how long it's been since I transferred my Kolsch) and there still seems to be battery life left. it's the battery that was recommended on the iSpindel Github, but given most beers will ferment out way before 40 days I think you could easily go smaller and cheaper if you needed to.
 
@Mikmonken
What resistor value did you use please?

As, I built 4 boards with 470 ohms resistors and all didn't work, and to start with I thought my soldering had gone wrong. However, built a fifth with a BAT43 Schottky diode and it worked.

Also on Github it now says to use a 330 ohms resistor or BAT43 diode?
 
I seem to remember 4.7k 470 and 220 are the Ones I used I'm not at home at the moment to check
 
I'm getting my parts together and have Wemos D1 Mini Pro, GY-521 and TP4056 boards as well as the Mikmonken PCB. After rereading this forum and the Github docs I am still a little unclear on what diodes, resisters or LEDs to remove from these boards when assembling. Some where recommended to reduce power drain but I think there is a diode to remove from the Wemos too.

What did you guys need to do?

The docs say...
GY-521
Remove the resistor of the GY LED! (Retirement)

Wemos
Remove the input diode (short circuit via Lipomodul!)
 
The diode on the wemos is a must the gy led is optional, I don't think the power drain is an issue and helps to show that the power is on. There is a picture somewhere in the thread that highlights what you need to remove, I cut it out with wirecutters
 
I think I saw the picture of the diode on the Wemos D1 Mini Pro.

So it just needs to be removed not short circuited like this says

Remove the input diode (short circuit via Lipomodul!)
Click to expand...


Mikmonken said:
The diode on the wemos is a must the gy led is optional, I don't think the power drain is an issue and helps to show that the power is on. There is a picture somewhere in the thread that highlights what you need to remove, I cut it out with wirecutters
Click to expand...
 
Bum Fudge said:
I think I saw the picture of the diode on the Wemos D1 Mini Pro.



So it just needs to be removed not short circuited like this says
Click to expand...


I think it gets a bit lost in translation, you're not short circuiting the wemos as such by removing the diode.

But by removing the diode you are preventing the wemos accidentally drawing power from the USB (whilst flashing) and the lipo powering it. Which knowing how sensitive the wemos is to over powering will stop the chip getting fried.
 
How do you access the WeMos/iSpindel configuration?

I've built a unit with the pcb @Mikmonken sent me, I've flashed the unit with the 5.1.2 bin file and when I hit reset the blue LED flashes but then nothing. To be honest, I know nothing about these these WeMos, so I don't know the first thing about how to access it.

Is should probably be noted that I used the BAT-43 diode w/ the cathode to D0.

Edited to Add: Attached are images of how I flashed the Wemos. Additionally, I had battery power while flashing. I'm at a loss here, so if someone could could give me some step by step instructions... that would be awesome!

Node_MCU_1.jpg


Node_MCU_2.jpg


Any help appreciated.
 
gromitdj said:
How do you access the WeMos/iSpindel configuration?

I've built a unit with the pcb @Mikmonken sent me, I've flashed the unit with the 5.1.2 bin file and when I hit reset the blue LED flashes but then nothing. To be honest, I know nothing about these these WeMos, so I don't know the first thing about how to access it.

Is should probably be noted that I used the BAT-43 diode w/ the cathode to D0.

Edited to Add: Attached are images of how I flashed the Wemos. Additionally, I had battery power while flashing. I'm at a loss here, so if someone could could give me some step by step instructions... that would be awesome!

Node_MCU_1.jpg


Node_MCU_2.jpg


Any help appreciated.
Click to expand...


When you say it flashes do you mean one constant flash? If so you're in the right direction.

You need to then open up your wifi settings on the computer or device and select the new network called ISpindel. And set up.

If you ever need to get into settings again you need to hit the reset about 4-5 times in quick succession until it flashes constantly again.

I actually flash mine through an RPI so have not used the method you've used.

Cheers

M
 
Mikmonken said:
When you say it flashes do you mean one constant flash? If so you're in the right direction.
Click to expand...

No. It's a really quick burst of several flashes. I can try to get a video of it, if that will help.

I've tried to find the access point on my laptop and phone, but do not see one.

I also tried to flash an unmodified Wemos with the .bin file but it does the same thing. Perhaps there is an issue with flashing the firmware?

ETA: Link to YouTube video https://youtu.be/eIH4DdNYMuM
 
When it flashes repeatedly about ever 1/2 second it will allow you to access it as a wifi point. Try pressing the reset button repeatedly 4,5,6 times or so quickly and see if that kicks it into access point mode. If not try flashing it again, that should put it straight in the access point mode.

With the RPI and terminal it's pretty easy to tell when it's flashes but I've never used the program you are using.
 
Mikmonken said:
When it flashes repeatedly about ever 1/2 second it will allow you to access it as a wifi point. Try pressing the reset button repeatedly 4,5,6 times or so quickly and see if that kicks it into access point mode. If not try flashing it again, that should put it straight in the access point mode.

With the RPI and terminal it's pretty easy to tell when it's flashes but I've never used the program you are using.
Click to expand...

Thanks. I've charged the battery to 100% charge and reflashed to see if that would help. (it didn't) I've never used the NodeMCU programmer either, so I haven't got a clue. I'm just trying to follow directions on the GitHub page.

How are you flashing with the RPi? I could give that a try when I'm back home this evening, I suppose.
 
Follow Up:

Success Finally! Here is what I had to do.... (May or may not be relevant to anyone else)

Because I had previously been messing around with this thing perhaps I messed up the programming. In trying to figure it out, I tried programming it using the Arduino IDE and was able to load some sample sketches that connected to my network. This convinced me it was an error in programming. So back to the NodeMCU flasher. But first I uploaded a blank sketch with Arduino. (may or may not matter)

Then I flashed the Wemos with the following settings to (hopefully) clear the addresses.

Node_MCU_3.jpg


Then, I reprogrammed the Wemos with the iSpindel bin, placing it at the 0x00000, rather than the INTERNAL://NODEMCU like the below image.

Node_MCU_Final.jpg
 
Hey guys, thanks to everyone for their efforts and helping each other so far. I'm at the point where I have a unit built and reporting gravity to ubidots but my end goal is to have it feed to brewpiless.
I can not for the life of me get it to feed data. I have upgraded to 5.2.1 ispindel and 2.3 BPL. Connecting to the same AP, address is the IP of the BPL and URL /gravity.
When I enable ispindel in BPL, it does not bring up the status window as it did in previous versions... is this a bug?

FYI - I had to wipe the eeprom flash memory and start again as when i went from BPL 2 - 2.3 it ruined wifi. So this is a fresh esp module with BPL 2.3 on it.

Thanks in advance
 
moad said:
When I enable ispindel in BPL, it does not bring up the status window as it did in previous versions... is this a bug?

FYI - I had to wipe the eeprom flash memory and start again as when i went from BPL 2 - 2.3 it ruined wifi. So this is a fresh esp module with BPL 2.3 on it.

Thanks in advance
Click to expand...

What is your setting in iSpindel? There isn't enough information for me.

I would suggest you to test BrewPiLess by using "curl".
Assuming your BPL is "brewpiless",
Code: 
*curl -H "Content-Type: application/json" -X POST -d '{"name": "iSpindel01", "id": "111", "temperature": 20.5, "angle": 89.5, "gravity": 1.006, "battery": 3.87}'  http://brewpiless.local/gravity
 
Good advice from pocketmon.

If you've got a commandline try `pio serialports monitor -b 115200` while connected via usb to get the serial output (you'll be able to see all the debug info). `pio` is a python library from http://platformio.org/
 
Now I managed to build one iSpindel with the pcb and parts-list from @Mitmonken. Looking great but now what?

How to get the .bin file flashed onto the esp? I connected the NodeMCU to my mac book and tried to get something done using Arduino. It looks like I do not get the serial port popping up. Also I do not have a clue how to get the .bin file loaded.
It has been a while when I poked around with the esp stuff. So how to get this going? Or is my NodeMCU not working properly?

Any advise or simple tutorial to get me going? Thanks WH
 
mr_birra_olanda said:
Now I managed to build one iSpindel with the pcb and parts-list from @Mitmonken. Looking great but now what?

How to get the .bin file flashed onto the esp? I connected the NodeMCU to my mac book and tried to get something done using Arduino. It looks like I do not get the serial port popping up. Also I do not have a clue how to get the .bin file loaded.
It has been a while when I poked around with the esp stuff. So how to get this going? Or is my NodeMCU not working properly?

Any advise or simple tutorial to get me going? Thanks WH
Click to expand...

Install the driver:
http://www.wch.cn/download/CH341SER_MAC_ZIP.html
 
Thanks for the reply.

I've got the ispindel set to http with the IP address of the bpl and /gravity in URL.

Il test out the serial monitor to get some debug info thanks for the tip
 

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