Project Blog

There have been many sous vide projects floating around the tubes recently. The one I’m showcasing here was first brought to my attention by the Adafruit blog. I found out from the developer that he was in the midst of a full write-up, so I held off on posting. Now that the write-up is done, we can see that he’s put together an impressive little project.

Great documentation, excellent implementation of the PID Library, delicious, delicious meat? What’s not to love? I’m also looking forward to subsequent posts, where he promises to show “how to calibrate the beast :)”

The reason I created the PID library was to make it easier for people to integrate PID control into their projects. Surprisingly, it’s actually happening! I’m starting to see a lot of really cool implementations out there. As a result, I’ve decided to start a new category of post: the PID Showcase. These are projects that make me feel that all that work was worth it.

So… here’s the first one: the Reflow Oven Controller Shield from RocketScream.com

It integrates all the components necessary to turn a toaster oven into a reflow oven. Thermocouple Chip… LCD… buzzer… awesome. But the part that I love is how they completely owned the PID part of this project. Look at this reflow curve:

They made use of setpoint ramping to get the heating rates just right. The output is phenomenal. This came out of a toaster oven:

Excellent work!