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Team Status Report for March 30th

This week, the team prepared for the project demo. To do so, we fully integrated the scale and temperature probe into the project. We continued testing on the water pump, although that will need more work to fully integrate it.

Concerning the data from the scale and temp probe, we decided to route all signals through the arduino to the rpi. This simplifies the process and allows us to use the rpi as the command center, with the arduino working to gather and route the data. We also began working on pour patterners for the presets using a pen attached to the gantry.

For the pump, we were having issues with water left over in the tubes, and the pump not being able to pull water from the reservoir. To mitigate this, we were able to have the pump sit inside the water reservoir, and this solved all of our issues. Now, no water is left in the hose (good for ease of cleaning/food safety), and the pump can always be actuated without the need for priming.

There have been numerous testing scripts added to the webapp repository.  These will help us create the Gcode for brewing profiles.  We have also already used one to help us format the data coming from the arduino to the RPI. Work on the webapp is going well and is roughly halfway done

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Corrado Govea’s Status Report for March 30th

This week’s accomplishments

  • This week I received the components and PCB that I ordered for the power management board.
  • I built the circuit and tested it, but ran into a few issues.
    • For some reason, the MOSFET section of the LV circuit is not working — that is, I am able to step down the 24V to a constant 6V for the pump, but then when I try to modulate the 6V with a MOSFET + PWM signal from the Pi, the voltage at the pump is inconsistent and very low. Still debugging.

Next Week’s Deliverables

  • Finish debugging the circuit and integrate it with the PID loop algorithm for the kettle/heating element.
  • Make any necessary modifications to the PCB after debugging — hopefully without ordering a new board (changing resistor values, etc).

Status Report: 1 week behind schedule. Plan to get back on schedule by completing the circuit debugging this week. This should be ok as I left some buffer for debugging, but want to make sure I resolve all major issues as soon as possible so they don’t block any of the integration work with the rest of the team.

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Elijah Knupp’s status report for March 30th

This week’s accomplishments

  • Attended mandatory labs
  • Troubleshot the scale. There were bugs in the code that need to be ironed out
  • Integrated the scale fully into the rpi. Accurate to the gram
  • Integrated the temperature probe.
    • both signals from the scale and probe are routed through the Arduino to the rpi, creating a sleek and simple method to allow for the data to be incorporated into the project
  • Helped to integrate the water pump…still needs a good bit of work

Next weeks plan

  • Demonstrate what I have finished up to this point.
    • converted the analog scale into a scale that outputs signals readable by the rpi
    • integrated the temperature probe
    • tested the pump’s operation
    • assembled and tested the movement of the 3D printer
  • Implement the thermos into the project. Will need to work with signals from the temperature probe to monitor and adjust the temperature of the water

Status Report: On schedule

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Rio Pacheco’s status report for March 30th

This week’s accomplishments

  • Continued work on Django app(8+hrs)
    • https://github.com/Quarks-1/pour-over-and-over
    • Fully functional profile making with steps
    • Connection to printer + arduino + error handling finished
    • Websocket communication between webapp frontend and backend done
    • skeleton code for communication with printer and profiles done
    • See below image for code time graph
    • wrote and tested test scripts for arduino data collection
    • wrote framework for interacting with printer via command line GCode
  • Attended mandatory lab (4hrs)

Next weeks plan

  • Finish profile -> Gcode conversions code
  • find a way to display arduino data live on webapp

Status Report: On schedule

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Team Status Report for March 23rd

This week, the team began integrating and testing the different components into the (eventual) final project. We also completed an ethics assignment, which was split into two parts. The first included a written part that answered ethical questions regarding our project. Then, the team went to an ethics-based lecture, which was then followed by a breakout session. In this session,  the team answered some ethics-based questions that other teams raised. Overall, it was a useful thought experiment that we will use to help shape our final design.

On the technical side, the digital scale was altered to allow for full integration into the pour-over machine. While final testing still needs to occur, it was a big step into integrating the sensors. We also ordered the power management PCB  so that we can begin testing next week.

The biggest technical risk to call out at the moment would be the results of PCB testing, as the turnaround time is around 1 week plus the time it takes to reflow the board. To mitigate this, we ordered through-hole components which we plan on using for prototyping, which gives us more flexibility than the fabricated PCB during testing. We’ve done extensive research on how the different components work, so we feel confident in our ability to debug the circuit, but we haven’t worked with High Voltage AC source before, so there is some risk.

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Corrado Govea’s Status Report for March 23rd

This week’s accomplishments

  • This week I made some major modifications to the power management PCB.
    • Initially, I had designed a special circuit to do zero-crossing detection for the triac. This would require having a separate Arduino code to handle the zero-crossing detection and actuate the triac gate.
      • After some research, I found a newer version of the triac driver that I had selected, which has zero-crossing detection incorporated. This allowed me to remove the entire detection circuit.
    • I also re-did the layout with much thicker traces for the HV side of the board, and changed some components that were not rated for 120VAC.
    • Lastly, I compressed the layout in size to reduce the PCB cost from >$60 to just $2 for qty 5.
  • I also submitted the purchase forms for both the PCB and the components (smd for pcb and through-hole for prototyping).

Next Week’s Deliverables

  • Write Arduino code to control the kettle and pump.
  • Test prototype circuit when components arrive.
  • Reflow one board and test.

Status Report: On schedule

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Elijah Knupp’s status report for March 23rd

This week’s accomplishments

  • Attended mandatory labs
  • Finished the team’s ethical assignment
    • Personally answered 2 of the 5 ethical questions required for the written portion
    • attended the ethics-based lectures
  • Finished altering the digital scale to allow its integration 
    • Will need to finish testing the signals from the scale. Whilst attempting to tare and orient the scale, received some rogue and incorrect signals. Will need to troubleshoot and possibly replace the AD/C component if errors continue. Next, will need to ensure the rpi properly receives the signal (as I’ve been doing the testing on my PC).

Next weeks plan

  • Finish integrating the scale into the project. 
    • Troubleshoot the system. More than likely due to a bad AD/C converter. Once the errors are ironed out, will ensure the signals are properly read by the rpi.
  • Continue designing and creating custom movement patterns on the 3-D printer for the pour patterns. 
    • was unable to work much on this aspect this past week due to errors related to the scale
  • Plan out cable management for the added components (including the wires coming from the scale). Will be important to ensure the safe operation of the machine (so that no boiling water comes in contact with wires or exposed components).

Status Report: On schedule

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Rio Pacheco’s status report for March 23rd

This week’s accomplishments

  • Continued work on Django app(8hrs)
    • https://github.com/Quarks-1/pour-over-and-over
    • Data model definitions refined and tested
    • Home + brew + profile creation page skeletons created
  • Attended mandatory lab (4hrs)

Next weeks plan

  • Design and print water bottle + raspberry pi mount
  • Continue work on web app

Status Report: On schedule

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Elijah Knupp’s status report for March 16th

This week’s accomplishments

  • Attended mandatory lab
  • Finished the ethical assignment
    • Both the individual and team components
  • Began integrating the scale into the project
    • Deconstructed the scale, and cut the wires to directly wire into the AD/C, which will then be routed to the Arduino. From there, the signal will be sent to the rpi. This week, soldered the wires from the scale to the AD/C. 
  • Established connection between the 3-D printer and octoprint (on the team’s rpi), tested to ensure full control. 

Next weeks plan

  • Finish integrating the scale into the project. 
    • Create and route the jumpers from the AD/C to the Arduino and then from the Arduino to the rpi.
      • Cable management will be important to ensure all wires and components are safe from the gimbal’s movement and any hot water the machine will be producing
  • Begin designing and creating custom movement patterns on the 3-D printer for the pour patterns. 

Status Report: On schedule

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Corrado Govea’s Status Report for March 16th

This week’s accomplishments

  • This week I finished the schematic for the power management circuitry.
    • This includes the new Triac circuit for controlling the PID on the kettle.
    • This also includes adding a transistor to control PWM DC voltage regulation for the DC pump.
  • Selected all components from Mouser and created a BOM to order the components.
    • This includes both SMD and Through-hole for prototyping.
  • Completed the ethics assignment and thought of ways to make better decisions on our project’s design.

Next Week’s Deliverables

  • Place Mouser order for all components of PCB.
  • Place PCB order.
  • Meet with the team for ethics assignment and discussion.
  • Start working on arduino code for controlling the new circuits on the PCB.

Status Report: On schedule