My latest struggle with the PID project has been getting the LCD menu system to work right. I was able to get the basic readout, showing temp, target temp, machine uptime, and heat power pretty easily. But I wanted to have a way to change the target, show the PID internal values, enter a standby mode, and adjust backlight level. I put some plain buttons in my project box and got them to work with the Arduino no problem, but getting the menus to work how I wanted has been trickier.
Not being a programmer, debugging has been a nightmare. I kept running into bizarre problems and having no idea where they were coming from. So I basically rewrote my LCD code. I also found a proper way to debounce my buttons and avoid double-presses. So now everything is working!
My next goal for this project is to attach a relay or sensor to the steam switch so I can have the PID control steaming temp, and the same for the brew switch, so I can tweak the control values during brewing and maybe put in a cute little little brewhead light so I can see what's going in the cup better. And also add a shot clock (just a readout, not actually turning off the brew process.) And I think after that, I may be done!
Mind the toves. They can be a bit slithy. Don't even get me started on the borogoves.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
LCD menu is working!
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