Project Overview

The goal of this project is to develop an IoT device that accurately measures a brewing liquid’s specific gravity to 0.0025 g/ml accuracy during fermentation. The device will also measure the temperature of the liquid. Our device will eliminate the need to open brewing containers to check on the brew, which reduces contamination risk and manual effort. Our sensor will also display real-time data, providing brewers a convenient monitoring solution.

Problem Statement

                                                               Needs:
During the fermentation process, it is important to know how quickly the sugars are being digested in order to get an estimate of the alcohol content. This process typically requires the brewer to open the container which adds risk of ruining the batch. This is primarily an issue in the scale of home brewing rather than on a larger industrial scale. A potential solution to this issue would be a device that can track the rate of sugar being digested by yeast in a brew without having to open the container. From our client, we were able to gather data that would further develop the need for a new solution and how to proceed in designing it. A typical way that homebrewers would measure specific gravity is by taking measurements before fermentation begins and during fermentation using a hydrometer that floats in the liquid. [2] This existing solution works well but it is limited in multiple ways such as needing to physically be read and monitored by opening the brewing container, battery life, durability, and accuracy. These factors lead to the need for an improvement upon typical hydrometer designs used by homebrewers.
                                                           Objectives:

• The project aims to design and implement a high-precision, user-friendly digital hydrometer with the following key objectives and features:
• The device must be capable of accurately measuring the specific gravity of the brew, with a precision of 0.0025 g/ml, ideally reaching 0.001 g/ml, essential for accurately calculating sugar content.
• The device must measure temperature, with a precision of 1°C , and the temperature sensor works in a temperature range of 0°C -35°C (32°F - 95°F).
• The device must be small enough to fit into a 5 gallon bucket.
• The device must continuously work for at least for four weeks, with or without batteries.
• The device must take real-time measurements of temperature and sugar content.
• The device must be able to store real-time data.
• Enable data transmission over common IoT protocols (e.g., Wi-Fi, Bluetooth) or include USB connectivity for manual data transfer.
• The device should include internal diagnostics to alert if any measurement anomalies are detected.
• The device needs to measure the battery voltage and send a low battery warning when the voltage of a battery drops to a specific value.
• The device must allow user calibration to accommodate various specific brewing conditions and requirements.