User customizable programming

Okay,

I got this idea for a brewing product that people can upload a customized set of parameters and the machine read and follows those instructions.

Basically, I wanted to start with the arduino. I am thinking that i need to define the actions that the arduino might take and the variables that some of those actions will follow (like time or temperature). The roadblock i have run into though is how do i get a file that has been written by some program (a file like BeerXML) and have the arduino translate that into the actions it is supposed to take.

I don’t even know if this is possible, I just had this idea, if not I know there are other ways to do it, like building the program within the arduino on the device.

Any advice is advice much appreciated!

How do you want to get the insrructions into the Arduino?

USB (Serial)?

SDCard?

IR?

That is doable. You might need to design a protocol and commands that are sent to the Arduino.

These can be in ASCII or binary and translated from a PC program that has a GUI.

The first step is to define what “actions” you need. Then a protocol to send these to and save these in the Arduino.

With something as small as the arduino, you likely come out better if you make a desktop app to ‘translate’ the BEERXml to commands that you stream to the arduino. This way you have plenty of room and flexibility (C/C++, Java, Lua, etc) to do what you need to format and comunicate with the arduino. Once set, you can disconnect the app.

Does the BeerApp have a plugin structure or other way to add capability?

To do this ON micro, you are really going to need a Mega, or a Teensy++2 or Teensy++3, or more than one Arduino. 32kb goes really fast.

Good luck.