Smartpid smart temp controller

[Oh Crap]

Just got an email from Davide of  ardbir about his latest gadget
http://smartpid.com

[johnrm]

So did I.
Looks interesting.
I wonder what price point.

[molc]

Ahh that's what that was. Deleted thinking it was spam

[Leann ull]

Gonna give brewpi a run for its money and is an inkbird stc1000 killer

[arzaman]

I guys I was going to open an official thread on the new homebrewing gadget "SmartPID" but Oh Crap anticipated me... if OK we can stay on this thread to discuss and get your feedback

It's a few months that I was no more active on this thread..but this not mean I have stopped my interest in home brewing and automation
Aftr ArdBir adventure In the last year I have invested lot of time,effort and money in a new brewing automation project and I have design and engineered a new smart and advanced product called SmartPID that I'm very happy to introduce to you.

The product is so advanced and feature rich there is nothing comparable on the market..in the same size of basic STC1000 thermostat I have inserted all you need for your brewing process, fermentation control or any other custom application !

But the great step head is that SmartPID is a real product engineering tested, certified with all characteristic for mass production. No more DIY unsupported kit but a long life-cycle platform powerful, flexible, programmable and SMART. Are you ready to do the upgrade? Just remove your simple thermostat or DIY solution and plug a smart process controller.



I leave you to discover all the features and functions and technical characteristic on the official website http://smartpid.com and FB page https://www.facebook.com/smartPID  and  I will open as well an official SmartPID thread

I hope you appreciate the big effort put in the design by an homebrewer for the homebrewing community and you support the project as you did for ardbir

Stay tuned
Davide

[arzaman]

Dear Homebrewing friends I continue in this thread  in order to highlight main SmartPID features and functions and collect your feedback during the project

Before entering technical details few words about the "philosophy" and idea behind the project

When I start designing the SmatPID I try to capture some requirements and  functionalities that are actually not present in low cost thermostat like STC1000 and are more typical in the professional control device (PLC) but at the same time I put lot of effort to keep it simple, accessible, affordable for a consumer market and DIY enthusiast

apart form the core temperature control features (PID/PWM etc..) indeed very advanced and powerful t the main innovation I have introduced that make SmartPID unique are

Full process automation


Thanks to the power of the platform it's possible to develop custom application that needs process control with complex service logic and manage a complete workflow.
Basic thermostat just simply ready temperature and control a relay according to set point..In smartPID you can program steps, ramps, triggers, alarms and manage complex temperature profile over the time. 
Typical example is food processing like beer brewing, cheese making or food drying where according  to specific recipe parameters the heating process should be managed step by step controlling and orchestrating different elements (heater, pump, fan..)

Data logging and export (USB & wifi)

The possibility to log all process data and analyse real time or off line is another typical feature that is available only on professional devices or with external data logger.
SmartPID has an internal 8Mbit EEPROM where all the process data (temperature, set point, PWM power, control direction etc,,) are logged and can be accessed either locally via USB and a desktop application (CSV export) or remotely pushed via wifi connection to a cloud server.

WiFi connectivity for remote management and IoT cloud integration

Wifi connectivity and cloud integration is what make SmartPID really smart !
Small wifi optional module is integrated in the SmarPID box and once connected to the wifi access the device can provide lot of new feature
remote management → configuration and control of setup parameter and process parameter from any location via web or smartphone
data logg→ real time monitoring of main process parameter and storage in the cloud server
for the development and design phase the thingspeak cloud service has been used , a private cloud server will be deployed after project founding

DIN Box

Another key driver for the design was the "box size" and we decide to use a standard DIN box in order to make SmartpID ultra compact and backward compatible with STC1000 like thermostat, you can just unplug your current controller and plug SmartPID to get the new full set of features
Engineering all the HW to support the new features has been very challenging but the result is a very powerful platform with powerful CPU, lot of memory and I/O capabilities that is the base line for developing powerful applications

Arduino Compatibility

Last but not least important driver was to keep as much as possible the platform open and easy programmable so the natural choice was to do development under Arduino umbrella. The component selection like the MCU (SAMD21 arduino Zero and MKR1000 IoT new board) and the architure are fully arduino compatible. I have developed a custom bootloader and specific board definition that can be imported in the Arduino IDE so you can just connect SmartPID via USB port to your PC and develop you sketch using the arduino tool-chain and all the supported libraries.

Let's now have an overview to HW and core features

HW configuration



-SAMD21 processor ARM cortex M0+
-8Mbit EEPROM for data log, recipe storage etc..
-1.3" OLED graphical display
-USB front port for programming, SW upgrade, data logging
-4 tactile switch to navigate trough menu
-1x Buzzer
-Jtag/SWD port
-WIFI module (detachable)
-110/220 V AC power supply
-2x temp probe input (DS18B20 or NTC)
-2x 220v AC 10A Relay output
-1x SSR output
-2x 12V 1A direct drive output

The core control functions are



-DUAL Independent control channel
-Multi control mode (heating , cooling or thermostatic)
-Dual control algorithm (PID or ON/OFF)

Is this little box powerful, flexible, smart enough for your applications ?

Next posts try to go in detail of major functions and remote management part
Any feedback is appreciated !

Arzaman
http://smartpid.com
https://www.facebook.com/smartPID

[arzaman]

One of the key characteristic of SmartPID is the flexibility and versatility trough HW set up SmartPID can be adapted to manage different applications

below some examples to illustrate the flexibilty


Single channel - PID (on/off) control mode - heating + pump



SmartPID reads temperature from 1 probe and drive the heating element in order to get the setup temeprature

Possible heating output configurations

SSR for electric heating [PID+PWM control algorithm]
220V AC relay for electric heating [ON/OFF algorithm]
Direct solenoid valve drive for GAS heating [ON/OFF algorithm]
Manually drive the PUMP (soft switch) with two possible configurations

220V AC relay pump drive
12V DC direct pump drive


DUAL channel - PID (on/off) control mode - heating (gas or electric)




SmartPID reads temperature from 2 probe and drive 2 heating element independently in order to get 2 different set up temperature

Possible heating output configurations

1 x SSR for electric heating [PID+PWM control algorithm]
1 x 12V direct solenoid valve drive for GAS heating [ON/OFF algorithm]
Manually drive the PUMP (soft switch) with two possible configurations

220V AC relay pump drive
12V DC direct pump drive


DUAL channel – ON/OFF control mode – thermostatic



SmartPID reads temperature from 1 probe and drive one heating element and one cooling element in order to keep temperature stable (fermentation chamber)

Possible heating output configurations

220V AC relay for electric heating [ON/OFF algoritm]
220V AC relay for electric heating [ON/OFF control algorithm]


so as you can see the possibility of configuration are really endless !

staty tuned
arzaman
http://smartpid.com

[arzaman]

I have prepared a feature comparison table between SmartPID and most common used thermostat

As you can easily see...there's no match 

When I complete the table I realize that comparing a fully programmable device with process automation capabilities and smart features like wifi and IoT capabilities with a thermostat maybe is not the right approach but at least once more you have the full feature list of the BASIC application !



something missing or more ?

arzaman
http://smartpid.com
https://www.facebook.com/smartPID

[Oh Crap]

Davide I posted this thread to let people know about the email you sent...and based on the ardbir I thought it would be worthwhile. Please let people know the PRICE before continually hyping the product...

[Leann ull]

I am of the opinion all this hype is to soften the shock

[arzaman]

I have to search on google translator the meaning of "hyping" and there was no translation but I understand the point !

My only objective in this phase is to provide you some highlight of the product itself and project progress
There are still some key points that it's important you all know (and provide me any feedback) as an example the home brewing application that I'm going to present soon to demonstrate all process automation capabilities

I try to update people interested via all possible channel , newsletter for people registred, FB pange and social, forum post.. not to "hype" but inform/explain , question answer, feedback collection..hope this is appreciated

About price ...by end of the month I think I have all elements from all different actors engaged in mass production , put all in one excel sheet, do my calculation and come out with a target price. 

ciao
Davide

[Leann ull]

Hype is Montatura

[arzaman]

Let me just provide this announcemnt..

after 2 weeks from SmartPID launching  that the second application on top of the SmartPID platform is nearly ready and is completely dedicated to home brewing process automation

What is new and different compared to the standard basic application (smart thermostat)? 
Substantially Smart Home Brewing App adds to a standard temperature control features all the process automation and workflow to manage all typical steps for beer making. We have customized vertically the SW for the specific application leveraging all the basic features available on the platform
Each vertical application has off course it's own set of data, process parameter and configuration and so is the smart home brewing app that execute all process steps according to in memory "recipe"and controls HW resources (heating elements, pump/stirrer, buzzer ) in automatic way

These are main characteristic of the smart HB application

-Single vessel (BIAB/RIMS) or two vessel (MASH + HLT) process management
-Electric heating (PID/PWM) or Gas Fired heating (ON/OFF)
-Recirculating pump or motorized mixer management
-NTC/DSB18B20 temperature probe
-Internal or external (in recirculating circuit) temp probe position
-Step Mash management (mash in/out and 6 step mash)
-Boil management with overboil and power control (electric only)
-Hop addition alarms
-Whirlpool management (hot or cold)
-Cooling management
-Full recipe management (new / edit /clone /delete)
-Mash profile
-Boil duration and hop addition time
-10 possible recipe in memory
-Delay start for brew day programming

Off course the brewing application benefit of all common features

-Log of all process data locally in the EEPROM
-Push of process data via wifi to thingspeak server
-Download of process data via USB (CSV format)
-Web visualization of process data
-SamrtPID dedicated smartphone app for data visualization (android only)

If this is not enough the development roadmap foresse other uniques functions in particular the possibility to define the process parameter and recipe via web or smartphone interface and upload via wifi to the controller.
Even if it's very easy to configure smartPID via local menu the possibility to have a web user area with all parameters and recipe as well all the log data of previous brew day we believe is a real plus. In order to simplify the recipe process from definition to run mode also import of mash and boil profile from major SW like Beersmith is in feasibility stage

In next posts we try to show a real case of set up and cabling  for BIAB equipments and a video with complete overview of the functions trough the EMULATOR

arzaman
http://smartpid.com
https://www.facebook.com/smartPID

[arzaman]

A long video explaining the smart brewing app, around 12 min for explanation of parameters and recipe config and 12 min for a complete simulation of a brew day

Enjoy and remember to subscribe youtube channel !

arzaman
http://smartpid.com
http://www.facebook.com/smartPID

[arzaman]

Live test of SmartPID controller applied to a profi cook pot transformed into a single vessel BIAB system with full process automation and smart features !

arzaman
http://smartpid.com
https://www.facebook.com/smartPID