Mqtt brewery
| Projects | |
|---|---|
| Participants | |
| Skills | soldering electronics brewing |
| Status | Planning |
| Niche | |
| Purpose | Use in other project |
Contents
MQTT Brewery Components
Introduction
What
Small re-usable wifi-enabled devices that function as a part of a brewery-system. Sensing, displaying, controlling or a mix of these functions can all be tasks any particular device can be tasked to do. Using MQTT as a message-bus to send/receive data.
The expectation is that the functions of the devices will be kept 'simple'; adhering to the Unix philosophy of making things that do one task and do them well; encouraging re-use.
Why
There are multiple reasons why you would want to do this. A large reason can be to minimize cabling issues by allowing a sensor/actuator to be placed anywhere, only requiring a power-supply to be present. Power could be drawn from the same source as for the actuator the device is responsible for.
Another reason is because of the recent emergence of cheap IOT-devices coming onto the market that allow easy integration into this kind of control-scheme, some of them even allowing re-flashing to be an autonomous MQTT-node on the network; foregoing the need for a bridge/router to whatever 'native' protocol it might have had.
How
Initially, the idea is to look at the SONOFF line of devices from ITEAD studio. These devices are based on the ESP8266 series of processors, integrating a wifi-stack on a 40-80mhz 32-bit processor core. They can be made to be 'arduino compatible', and have an eco-system of alternate firmwares available at least one of which focuses on MQTT-functionality.
One of the devices, the SONOFF DH10/16 is a 10/16Amp switch that also includes capability for measuring temperature or humidity through connecting an external 1-wire sensor. In the case of temperature, it supports a D18B20.
Other devices in the SONOFF line of products focus on simply switching AC-loads, provide multiple relay-outputs, etc. A greatly beneficial aspect of these products is their incredibly low price-point.
Concluding
The above , when taken together, leads to a number of interesting observations regarding the use of cheap IOT-enabled/like devices to put a brewery together.
- They are easy to acquire; allowing a brewery-project to concentrate on the process/control instead of (all) the hardware
- They are cheap ; resulting in making it easy to stock up on spares
- They are 'cordless'; allowing application in places where it'd be unhandy to route wiring to
- Moving sensors/actuators around becomes easier. Only a power-source nearby is required. Even battery-based operation is an option for 'mobile' sensors/actuators
- Their low price and their cordlessness makes it feasible to integrate more actuators in more locations/applications; providing better process-monitoring and/or control.
Components
For
