North Coffee Roasters (Fotek controls) - Roasting Intelligence (RI) Setup
This manual covers the connection of North Coffee Roasters (with Fotek controls) roast machine to Cropster's Roasting Intelligence.
Table of Contents
Specifications
Requirements
- USB cable
-
VCP driver (FTDI)
- Windows 11
- Windows 10
- macOS X 10.9 to 10.14
Do not install third-party FTDI drivers on macOS, as it already comes with native support for FTDI devices. Installing additional drivers may cause conflicts and prevent your device from working correctly.
Supported measurements
- Drum temperature
- Bean temperature
- Environmental temperature
- Airflow (Hz)
Roasting Intelligence (RI) Setup
Installing the Roasting Intelligence (RI) software
- Download RI.
- Complete the installation process by following the steps provided.
- Double-click the Cropster icon on your desktop to access RI.
-
Click the green Login with the browser button.
-
You will be directed to the C-sar browser.
-
Enter your Username* and Password* and click the green Sign in with password button.
Use the same credentials that you use to access the online platform C-sar.
Establishing a connection to the machine
The images below are for reference and may vary slightly from your screen.
Before you begin configuring your roast machine, ensure that you have added it via the online platform C-sar.
- Select
Preferences > Machine > Configuration - To choose the Roast machine, click on the dropdown menu in the Machine section.
- Click the + Add connector option to choose your connector from the dropdown list.
- Select Mill City (all versions - Phidgets and PIDs/PLC) from the dropdown.
-
Click Select to add the connector.
- Navigate to the Machine > Measurements tab. All supported measurements will be displayed.
- To activate the measurements, simply click the green toggle button.
- Enable the desired measurements and choose Mill City (all versions - Phidgets and PIDs/PLC) as the connector type.
-
(Optional) Change the order of the measurements by using the
-png.webp)
Drag and Drop icon and move it into position.
- Navigate to the Machine > Controls tab.
- To activate the controls, simply click the green toggle button. Enable the controls you wish to activate.
- Choose Mill City (all versions - Phidgets and PIDs/PLC) as the connector type.
- (Optional) Change the order of the Slider controls by using the Drag and Drop icon and move it into position.
- Navigate to the Machine > Configuration tab and click on the Gear icon in the Connector setup section to open and configure more settings.
-
Select the Mill City Version, the Serial port referring to your roast machine, and the Temperature unit.
- Version: Fotek controls (Standard control panel)
-
Serial port
Windows: COMx
macOS: USBx - Temperature unit: Choose Celsius or Fahrenheit according to the temperature unit displayed on the machine's temperature readouts.
- Click OK.
- Click Save to finalize the changes.
After saving the changes, RI will automatically restart. If the setup was successful, you will see the temperature values displayed on the right-hand side of the RI screen following the restart.
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Learn more about the Roasting Intelligence (RI) Preferences.
Troubleshooting
If RI indicates No source connected and/or you cannot see any measurements, please check the following:
- Did you choose the correct version?
- Did you choose the correct serial port?
- Is your North Coffee Roaster machine equipped with Fotek controls?
Bean temperature stall (RoR Valley)
You have successfully connected your North Coffee Roaster with RI, but you are experiencing a consistent stall in the Bean temperature (shown as a valley in the RoR):
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The temperature and RoR curves shown above were tracked during one roast, using a Standard control panel North Coffee Roaster roast machine with Fotek controls.
Congratulations! You have successfully set up the Cropster Roasting Intelligence.
Your opinion matters. If you have further questions, feedback, or concerns, please submit a support ticket directly from support.cropster.com.