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Connect the Hydrom to Brewblox

Brewblox is a modern, open source brewery control platform. It runs on a central (on premise) server to which multiple temperature controllers and sensors can connect in an intuitive web interface.

Connect the Hydrom to Brewblox

Precondition

To make this setting you must have access to the user interface. If this is not the case, see here how to do it:Access to the user interface

In order to connect the Hydrom to Brewblox, a Brewblox server must first be set up.

A Pi with Brewblox was set up

Adding Hydrom to BrewBlox

The Hydrom is natively supported by Brewblox. This means that once the hydrom is set up, the readings are automatically sent to the server and can be used. Multiple devices can also be used in parallel by customising the name of the Hydrom.

There are two basic ways to connect the Hydrom to Brewblox.

  1. via WLAN Assuming the Hydrom is on the same network as the Brewblox server, it is best to set it up via WLAN. How to do this is described in this manual.

  2. via Bluetooth If the Brewblox server is not in the WLAN and there is no access to a WLAN, the Hydrom can only be connected via Bluetooth. No instructions have yet been written for this. In principle, you can say, follow the instructions for the Tilt Hydrometer: https://www.brewblox.com/user/services/tilt.html These instructions also apply 1:1 to the Hydrom.

Configuring the Hydrom

Step 1: Open the Menue

To access the menu bar you have to click on the three lines in the upper left corner. (See arrow) Then the menu bar will open.

Step 2: Select "Service"

The "Services" page is a resource that allows users to select and configure various interfaces and cloud services for use with their system. On this page, users can choose from three different interfaces - HTTP, MQTT, and TCP - and several cloud services, and then activate and parameterize these options to suit their needs. This page is a useful tool for those who want to connect their system to the cloud or other external services and customize the way in which data is transmitted and received. With the options available on the "Services" page, users can tailor their system to meet their specific requirements and ensure that it is able to communicate effectively with other devices and systems.

Step 3: Activate Brewblox

Server Address: Name or IP of the Brewblox/MQTT broker

Server Port: MQTT port, which is 1883 by default.

Path / URI: must be set to "brewcast/history", which is the MQTT-Topic for the history service.

Username / Password: This field remains empty because Brewblox does not yet support MQTT with authentication.

The two indicators next to the IP address of the server and the port of the server then turn green/red when a test message has been sent. The Hydrom then checks whether the address can be reached and if so, whether the destination port is open.

additional settings

In order not to consume too much power, we would turn Bluetooth off when it is not needed. It was documented here:

Bluetooth Settings

In order for the Hydrom to transmit the data reliably, a DeepSleep time must be set. This is documented on this page:

Adjust Intervall

Save Settings

Saving the data is important because it is the only way to connect to the service after waking up from DeepSleep.

You can check whether the saving was successful by looking at the settings file at http://hydrom001/settings.json/. to check if the save was successful. This file is the permanent memory of the Hydrom.

A second way to check the saving is to reload the page (all modern browsers offer this Feature). If the properties are then reloaded, the hydrom has accepted them, otherwise the old settings are reloaded.

Send Test-message

By activating this button, you can check whether the Hydrom has a connection to the service and to the individual parts of the service. If you now click on "Save", the set services are executed once and the page is reloaded. On the new page you can see whether the servers are accessible and the ports are open.

activate DeepSleep

Activating DeepSleep is mandatory for the hydrom to be able to send data. If DeepSleep is activated, the hydrom wakes up after the set time and sends the data to the set service. Afterwards, the hydrom goes back to sleep and waits for the new service.

Adjust Intervall

To ensure that the device sends measured values to the Service in the set interval as intended, the Hydrom must be put into deep sleep.

There are two ways to put the Hydrom into deep sleep.

Turning the power switch off and on is the easiest way to put the Hydrom into deep sleep.

The alternative way is to put it to sleep via the UI. To do this, open the navigation bar and go to the "DeepSleep" tab.

Configuration of the Hydrom in the Brewblox

Add a dashboard

In order to view the measured values of the Hydrom, a dashboard must first be created if one does not already exist.

Add widget

The measured values of the Hydrom can be visualised via a graph. To do this, a widget must first be created.

Add graph

Now add a graph to this widget

Click on "Create" to create this widget.

Activating the Hydrom

Adding the graph is not enough to display the measured values of the Hydrom. The measured values of the Hydrom do not have to be made visible. To do this, go to the top right corner and click on the two triangles to activate the settings of the graph.

In the settings of the graph, the filter has to be activated. So practically, which measured values do I want to see. For clarity, it is recommended to activate only the required measured values here.

At the end you see at least the test measurement after which the hydrom was put to sleep but also the measured values in the set interval.

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