RoastLogger with USB & webcam input

Roasters and roasting

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Postby GreenBean » Sun Oct 18, 2009 8:26 pm

The OCRRoastLogger is now available for download here for anyone who wants to try it to see if they can get it working with their equipment.

If you try this program please provide feedback. Improvements can only be made based on feedback from users experience with different roasters and webcams. 

[Edited to remove email address]
Last edited by GreenBean on Wed Oct 21, 2009 11:47 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Izzo Alex Duetto | Gaggia XD 2 Group | Mazzer Super Jolly | La Cimbali Max | Solis 166 | Dalian 1 kg roaster | Hottop P | Hottop B | French Press (several) | Kettle modded, no really, added digital thermometer |
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Postby Olings » Tue Oct 20, 2009 5:22 pm

This program can truly be recommended! Logging your roasts is one of the most important things to do to be able to reproduce consistently your best roasts or to dial in that perfect roast. This program makes this just that more easy! Thanks Tom! :D


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Postby GreenBean » Sat Oct 31, 2009 12:37 pm

I normally use the roast logger in OSX and have been using Macam to display my webcam images. After updating to Snow Leopard Macam has ceased to work so I could not use my webcam in OSX. I decided to use this "opportunity" to try a different webcam and chose the Logitech Quickcam Vision Pro for Mac due to the high praise from Bruce and Dom earlier in this thread.

I can confirm that this is an excellent webcam (thanks Dom and Bruce :D) and, so far is working on both the Hottop P and B without any screens or hassle. OSX does not provide any way to adjust the settings of the webcam but, luckily, it seems able to find suitable settings fully automatically.

The Quickcam Vision Pro setup on the Hottop B:
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A further complication is that OSX insists that the "correct" way to show a webcam image is a mirror image and the software provided in OSX that can display a webcam image (I use Photo Booth) will only display the image as a mirror image!. This would be fine if you wanted to shave using your webcam but is no use for reading a display! I have modified the OCRRoastLogger to provide the option to mirror the image to provide a suitable image for the logger. I will make this available for download as soon as I get a chance.
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Izzo Alex Duetto | Gaggia XD 2 Group | Mazzer Super Jolly | La Cimbali Max | Solis 166 | Dalian 1 kg roaster | Hottop P | Hottop B | French Press (several) | Kettle modded, no really, added digital thermometer |
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Postby GreenBean » Sun Nov 01, 2009 12:20 pm

An update to the roast logger is now available here. The update adds the option to mirror the captured image in addition to rotating it 180 degrees. This is necessary when using a webcam viewer that insists on providing a mirror image such as Photo Booth in OSX.

Changes in version 0.41 24/10/09:

Added option to mirror the webcam image.

Changed label of "flip" check boxes to "rotate" to avoid confusion with the new "mirror" check boxes

Tooltips on template tab changed

Help file updated to cover the above
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Izzo Alex Duetto | Gaggia XD 2 Group | Mazzer Super Jolly | La Cimbali Max | Solis 166 | Dalian 1 kg roaster | Hottop P | Hottop B | French Press (several) | Kettle modded, no really, added digital thermometer |
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Postby CakeBoy » Sun Nov 01, 2009 12:24 pm

Brilliant, thanks GB, you are a star :D
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Postby GreenBean » Sat Jan 02, 2010 3:28 pm

A minor update to the roast logger is now available from the downloads section or here. The update adds an option to show the current temperature gradient as the roast progresses and includes a few other minor items as follows:

Changes in version 0.42 2/1/2010:

1. Added option to display temperature gradient(s) in degrees per minute. Value shown black if positive and red if negative (falling).

2. Tooltip on menu View | edge detection - changed to advise to use this dialog during logging to warn of any image processing problems.

3. Tooltip added for menu Options | Set OCR Parameters.

4. Help file updated to incorporate the above.
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Izzo Alex Duetto | Gaggia XD 2 Group | Mazzer Super Jolly | La Cimbali Max | Solis 166 | Dalian 1 kg roaster | Hottop P | Hottop B | French Press (several) | Kettle modded, no really, added digital thermometer |
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Postby bruceb » Sat Jan 02, 2010 9:32 pm

GreenBean wrote:A minor update to the roast logger is now available from the downloads section or ...


Thank you GB! You are the man. I will report on it after my next roast. I haven't roasted one time without your program since I've had it.

Happy New Year, BTW. :D
Three Francesconi (CMA) espresso machines - Rossi, San Marco, LaCimbali, Faema and 2 Mazzer Major grinders- CoffeeTech Maggionlino, Hottop, Alpenröst and HW Precision roasters.
I decided I needed a bit of a change so I roasted some Monsooned Malabar. That was a change!
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Postby GreenBean » Sun Jan 03, 2010 1:23 pm

bruceb wrote:
GreenBean wrote:A minor update to the roast logger is now available from the downloads section or ...

Thank you GB! You are the man. I will report on it after my next roast. I haven't roasted one time without your program since I've had it.

Happy New Year, BTW. :D

Happy New Year Bruce. It is good to know that you find the roast logger useful 8). I also use it for all my roasts and it is working perfectly on my Hottops.

For anyone thinking of trying the logger the difficult part is setting up a webcam to obtain a clear image of the display. Once this is done and you correctly set up the logger I find it ridiculusly easy to use. The logger settings are preserved between roasts so I just hang the webcam on the hottop heat guard, click start to start capturing the image, slide the webcam to the correct position and it is working. :D
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Izzo Alex Duetto | Gaggia XD 2 Group | Mazzer Super Jolly | La Cimbali Max | Solis 166 | Dalian 1 kg roaster | Hottop P | Hottop B | French Press (several) | Kettle modded, no really, added digital thermometer |
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Postby bruceb » Sun Jan 03, 2010 5:08 pm

I did a couple of roasts this afternoon, but forgot to download the new version and used the previous build :oops: . These were the 53rd and 54th roasts with the logger and it worked perfectly as did the magnificent Green Bean Vac-Powered Bean Cooler (MGBVPBC). :D
Three Francesconi (CMA) espresso machines - Rossi, San Marco, LaCimbali, Faema and 2 Mazzer Major grinders- CoffeeTech Maggionlino, Hottop, Alpenröst and HW Precision roasters.
I decided I needed a bit of a change so I roasted some Monsooned Malabar. That was a change!
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Major update to read directly from multimeter via USB

Postby GreenBean » Fri Jan 15, 2010 3:21 pm

A major update to the roast logger will be available soon. The most significant change is the addition of the ability to read data directly from a specific multimeter via USB cable and/or read a roasters digital display via a webcam using optical character recognition. Two separate temperatures can be logged and charted one via USB from a multimeter or via a webcam and the other via a webcam. All of this functionality is multi-platform, working on OSX, Linux or Windows (XP, Vista or Windows 7).

The logger reads data directly from a Victor 86 C digital multimeter from Shenzhen Victor Hi-Tech Co. Ltd. I purchased mine from eBay UK for £29. The multimeter uses a modern USB HID (human interface device) interface and requires no drivers to work in any of these operating systems. The logger may also work with other multimeters in the Victor 86 range (86 B, 86 D, 86 E) although these are not available for testing. For anyone thinking of buying one of these multimeters for use with the logger the following are seen as the main advantages/disadvantages of this multimeter:

Advantages:
1. Has a USB HID interface so it does not need different drivers for each operating system and architecture.
2. Has an optically coupled USB cable so it can not damage your computer regardless of what you do to the meter inputs (a challenge for Breako).
3. Although cheap it is of reasonable quality with a large clear display.
4. Includes a cheap wire thermocouple with glass fibre insulation which can be used in a roaster (I have done it) although a stainless steel sheathed thermocouple would be better.

Disadvantages:
1. Reads temperature in whole degrees (F or C) only.
2. Does not have a standard thermocouple connector. An adaptor to separate multimeter plugs would be required to use it with a thermocouple with a standard two pin plug. Suitable inline plug/sockets are available on eBay for a few pounds.

It will be available as soon as I get a chance to update my website to include it.
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Izzo Alex Duetto | Gaggia XD 2 Group | Mazzer Super Jolly | La Cimbali Max | Solis 166 | Dalian 1 kg roaster | Hottop P | Hottop B | French Press (several) | Kettle modded, no really, added digital thermometer |
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RE: Major update to read directly from multimeter via USB

Postby CakeBoy » Fri Jan 15, 2010 4:04 pm

This is superb GB, thank you so much for sharing :D
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Update now available

Postby GreenBean » Sat Jan 16, 2010 9:26 am

The major update to include the facility to read directly from a specific multimeter is now available from the downloads section or here.

I developed this addition to the logger so that I could easily explore the effect of environment temperature on my Hottop roasters. I use a webcam to read the roasters display and a multimeter connected via USB cable to read the environment temperature. This allows logging and charting of both temperatures as the roast progresses.

This is a screenshot of the chart tab showing my first roast using this approach. I did not attempt to control the environment temperature just to record it whilst controlling the roaster based on it's temperature display as usual. I used the thermocouple which is included with the meter for this test.
Image

This is a screenshot of the digital multimeter (DMM) tab showing the output from the communication with the meter and the reading at the bottom right of the screen followed by the temperature gradient in degrees per minute. There are no drivers or configuration required for this multimeter, just connect it's cable, press it's RS232 button to start communication, then click the Start/Stop button on the roast logger to start reading it's data.
Image


changes in version 0.5 14/1/2010

Added ability to read temperature data directly (via USB cable) from a Victor 86 C multimeter in addition to reading data using optical character recognition from a webcam image of a roasters display.

Changed name of the program to RoastLogger as it is not now exclusively based on OCR

Added option to alarm on OCR/DMM2 temperature rather than OCR1 temperature

Added menu option to show or hide the edge/segment detection dialog each startup

A number of changes to allow users to overwrite versions of this program with later versions without losing their settings and any changes they have made to the log template

Help file updated to incorporate the above

Edit: The logger now reads data directly (via USB) from both the Victor 86 B and 86 C multimeters. See post dated Feb 23, 2010 - 10:33 AM for details and comparison of the multimeters.
Last edited by GreenBean on Tue Feb 23, 2010 2:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Izzo Alex Duetto | Gaggia XD 2 Group | Mazzer Super Jolly | La Cimbali Max | Solis 166 | Dalian 1 kg roaster | Hottop P | Hottop B | French Press (several) | Kettle modded, no really, added digital thermometer |
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RE: Update now available

Postby bruceb » Sat Jan 16, 2010 12:51 pm

Looks fantastic GB! Unfortunately, my Fluke multimeters don't have USB HID interfaces :( , but maybe sometime in the future I will get one that does.

One thing I don't understand...I probably didn't read closely enough...is there a scale for ambient temperature in your readings? Or is it really 200°C in Chester? :shock: :lol:
Three Francesconi (CMA) espresso machines - Rossi, San Marco, LaCimbali, Faema and 2 Mazzer Major grinders- CoffeeTech Maggionlino, Hottop, Alpenröst and HW Precision roasters.
I decided I needed a bit of a change so I roasted some Monsooned Malabar. That was a change!
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Re: RE: Update now available

Postby GreenBean » Sat Jan 16, 2010 1:54 pm

bruceb wrote:Looks fantastic GB! Unfortunately, my Fluke multimeters don't have USB HID interfaces :( , but maybe sometime in the future I will get one that does.

No problem you can ignore the DMM tab and continue to use the logger with the webcam. 8)

bruceb wrote:One thing I don't understand...I probably didn't read closely enough...is there a scale for ambient temperature in your readings? Or is it really 200°C in Chester? :shock: :lol:

Ermmm… that isn't the ambient temperature Bruce, it's the environment temperature in a hot roaster. :roll: :D
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Izzo Alex Duetto | Gaggia XD 2 Group | Mazzer Super Jolly | La Cimbali Max | Solis 166 | Dalian 1 kg roaster | Hottop P | Hottop B | French Press (several) | Kettle modded, no really, added digital thermometer |
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RE: Update now available

Postby Tristan » Sat Jan 16, 2010 1:57 pm

This is absolutely amazing, can't believe I missed this thread!

I've been looking for a solution like this for logging roasts as well as monitoring temperature on my distillation equipment.

With regards to the genecafe (because I have one), it displays the target and actually temperature intermittently. IIRC it flashes between the two every 2 or 3 seconds and/or when the temperature is adjusted. Could the software be modified to only read temperatures between the times that the roaster displays the target temp?
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