KegNet: Tracking Kegerator Beer Keg Volume with a RasPi

[monospacesoftware]

Hi Folks,

We have launched a new website called KegNet, which is using a Raspberry Pi, liquid flow meter, and a digital temperature probe to monitor and track the temperature and volume of beer in a keg. It's intended for home kegerator owners. All the data is transmitted to a central website for reporting and control. Think of it like a social network for kegerators!

I invite you all to check it out for yourself: http://www.kegnetwork.com/

There's only 1 keg online now, which you drill down to from home page map, or directly using this link:

http://www.kegnetwork.com/kegerator/8b6 ... 1d798a0ab3

The Pi has really helped shorted the development time for this project. Included kernel modules for the W1 temperature probe were very handy. We're currently struggling mostly with reliable WiFi support...

Just trying to generate a little interest and possibly find some beta testers! Click on "How to Order" button on the site to apply as a beta tester.

Thanks!
Paul

[monospacesoftware]

Just a followup on my comment above about Wifi trouble, in case it helps others. I resolved the issue.

iwlist scan would work, I could always scan and see the available Wifi networks. Occasionally I could get a connection, but it was not reliable and would usually drop after a few minutes, and then would be unable to connect again. Was getting messages like this in the log:

localhost wpa_supplicant[117]: ioctl[SIOCSIWAP]: Operation not permitted
localhost dhcpcd[127]: wlan0: carrier lost
localhost dhcpcd[127]: wlan0: waiting for carrier
localhost dhcpcd[127]: wlan0: carrier acquired
localhost dhcpcd[127]: wlan0: carrier lost

localhost wpa_supplicant[117]: wlan0: Trying to associate with 00:40:05:c7:7e:04 (SSID='DLINK' freq=2417 MHz)
localhost wpa_supplicant[117]: wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-DISCONNECTED bssid=00:40:05:c7:7e:04 reason=0
localhost wpa_supplicant[117]: wlan0: CTRL-EVENT-TERMINATING

I had tried 3 different rtl8192cu USB Wifi adapters; from Monoprice, Adafruit, and Edimax. I suspected the issue was power related, and tried a few different power supplies also.

It turned out the problem was that I had a USB keyboard/mouse connected... Once I disconnect it, so the USB wifi dongle is the only thing connected, the Wifi connection is reliable. I'm using a powered IOGear KVM (GCS1104). Apparently even though it's powered, it takes too much power from the USB and prevents the Wifi from working properly!

Paul