More Betterness!

Hey folks, hope all is well! Gonna jump right in to the updates.

Water Flow Testing

I have made a couple of adjustments to how Mugsy controls the dual peristaltic pump motors. I initially was controlling flow by varying the timing of the on/off state of each pump. So at the lowest flow it would be just one pump running, at the highest both. For any flow rates in between those two values I would adjust the percentage of time the second one ran. This worked pretty well but I had to do some annoying math and it limited the total range available to the pumps.

So I decided to add a second L298N Dual H-Bridge breakout to Mugsy in order to offer much wider water flow variability and a more basic control structure.  I have finished converting the code to use this method but I still need to create a look up table for all of the flow rates. I will be completing this tomorrow. Once that is done I can sign off on this piece.

Chaining Commands

I have updated the pour over cone control code to allow the chaining of commands. Previously Mugsy's motor controller would stop listening to commands until the previous command's movement had completed. Now you can send an entire recipe's movement instructions in a single command.

Command format = <CW,1600,60.00> (Direction, Steps, Speed) 

Chained command example:  <CW,800,60.00><CC,800,60.00><CW,800,60.00><CC,1600,60.00><CW,1600,60.00>

Notes: 

  • Stepper Motor Single Rotation = 200  Steps

  • Pour Over Cone Single Rotation  =  1600 Steps

  • Speed has to be a float 

You can find and test out the code here: https://github.com/margyle/MugsyDev/blob/master/arduinoScripts/coneStepperSerialControl.ino

I have added endpoints for chained commands to the Decaf API but have not yet pushed to the repo. That should happen tomo.

Additional Cone Types

Love your Kalita Wave or similar flat bottom style pour over cone? Mugsy can now automate it. I can't say much more than that just yet but will share it all on Sunday.

Recipe Listing

Sneaky Peaky: 

More hints?

More hints?

The Next 48 hours

  • Finish water flow lookup table

  • Start  temperature testing.

  • Update the controller mounting panel to be able to hold a second L298N breakout

  • Open up the online Machine Management System to backers

  • Start actually running through production style brew tests

Where Are We At?

The testing process is taking longer than I had estimated. That being said, the results have been very fruitful. As I revisit things for testing that I last worked on several months ago, the benefit of some fresh eyeballs and more experience has given me opportunities to improve things that I had initially thought were "good enough". 

Some of the improvements are based on things I learned working with our Dev Community members on Decaf, conversations going on in our forums or just having more knowledge about Mugsy itself. If I see something that can be significantly improved with 24-36 hours of hacking, it's hard to ignore.

The only remaining sections to start testing are the heating and temp control systems as well as the weight measurement calibrations.  I should be starting heat/temp on Sunday and the weight calibrations on Monday.

I am going to leave it here for now. The next update will be on Sunday. That will include another "where are we at" section to confirm or adjust the above output expectations. Realistically, I think we are at least another week from boxing these first 5 units up. Maybe a couple of days on top of that. I will keep adjusting timings as I sign off on things and I will keep everyone posted on everything as it happens. 

Thanks again for your time and your support. Have a great weekend and I'll see you all on Sunday.

Cheers,

-m

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