Automated Beermachine.
Using A Flow Sensor With Arduino In this tutorial we will be hooking up a Flow Sensor to an Arduino Uno to measure liquid flow. This type of flow sensor is designed to measure the volume of liquid traveling past a given point, a great way to keep tabs on how much water your drip irrigation system is using, or any other project were the flow of liquid needs to be tracked.
Hello world, a few weeks ago I decided to upgrade my homebrewing setup from bottling to kegging. In this process, I decided I wanted to make the dispenser automated. Also with a payment system. The intention of the payment system was not to earn money, but just as a challenge to myself. In the end, it turned out working very nicely.
At first I wanted to make the whole system mechanical, because I study mechanical engineering, and have no experience with programming. I spent some days trying to figure out how to make the system all mechanical, but I didn’t quite figure out how. Then one day I decided to take a more electrical approach.
As I currently have no subjects in programing and basically know nothing about any programming, I went to the library at my school and borrowed a book about programming Arduino, and a book about programing in C++. As I look back I think the book about C++ might have been an overkill. The same day I went to the online Arduino store and bought a starter kit. I also went to eBay and bought a lot of stuff that I might need. A list of what I used in this instructable will follow below.
So, if you have no experience with programing, and want to learn in the prosses, I highly encourage you to make something similar, and learn in the prosses. I spent about 2 months from start to finish making this. And I have learned a lot!. At first I found the programing very frustrating, and hard. But now I feel like I understand at least something. But still I find it hard. And the coding provided in this instructable is not top notch. But the code works, and that is the most important if you ask me.
This is how the machine works in a few steps.
There are two buttons on the machine to select different menus on the LCD.
When a menu that provide beer is selected the servo blocking the coin inlet is opned. This allows you to insert a coin. When the right coin is inserted and registered the servo will close preventing further adding of coins. At the same time this happens a signal is sent to the relay module, to open the solenoidvale. The valve will then stays open until a given amount of volume has passes through the flow sensor. The valve will also close if the valve stays open for more than 100sek. After this has happened the servo will open and all is ready for a new loop.
The values form the flow sensor is also stored in a different menu where you can see the total consumption. The same menu also provides information about the temperature of the fridge and how long the system has been running.
In the video, you will see the machine not pouring
beer, why is that? Sadly, I am all out of beer. I will upload a new video of the machine pouring beer when my next batch is ready. That will be in about 1 week.
beer, why is that? Sadly, I am all out of beer. I will upload a new video of the machine pouring beer when my next batch is ready. That will be in about 1 week.
I am entering this instructable in the circuits
challenge pleas vote if you liked it.:)
challenge pleas vote if you liked it.:)