SparkFun Forums

[brewingengineer]

Okay,

I got this idea for a brewing product that people can upload a customized set of parameters and the machine read and follows those instructions.
Basically, I wanted to start with the arduino. I am thinking that i need to define the actions that the arduino might take and the variables that some of those actions will follow (like time or temperature). The roadblock i have run into though is how do i get a file that has been written by some program (a file like BeerXML) and have the arduino translate that into the actions it is supposed to take.
I don't even know if this is possible, I just had this idea, if not I know there are other ways to do it, like building the program within the arduino on the device.

Any advice is advice much appreciated!

[KeithB]

How do you want to get the insrructions into the Arduino?
USB (Serial)?
SDCard?
IR?

[waltr]

That is doable. You might need to design a protocol and commands that are sent to the Arduino.
These can be in ASCII or binary and translated from a PC program that has a GUI.

The first step is to define what "actions" you need. Then a protocol to send these to and save these in the Arduino.

[motopic]

With something as small as the arduino, you likely come out better if you make a desktop app to 'translate' the BEERXml to commands that you stream to the arduino. This way you have plenty of room and flexibility (C/C++, Java, Lua, etc) to do what you need to format and comunicate with the arduino. Once set, you can disconnect the app.

Does the BeerApp have a plugin structure or other way to add capability?

To do this ON micro, you are really going to need a Mega, or a Teensy++2 or Teensy++3, or more than one Arduino. 32kb goes really fast.

Good luck.