This manual explains how to connect a San Franciscan roast machine with (Eurotherm controls) via USB, to Cropster's Roasting Intelligence.
Specifications
Requirements
- USB cable
- VCP driver (FTDI)
On recent MacOS devices, the driver may be already pre-installed with your operating system.
Supported measurements
- Bean temperature
- Exhaust temperature
- Environment temperature
Roasting Intelligence (RI) Setup
Installing the Roasting Intelligence (RI) software
- Download the Roasting Intelligence from https://download.cropster.com.
- The Cropster installer leads you through all the installation steps.
- Open the RI by double-clicking the Cropster icon on the desktop
- Enter your username and password.
The username is the email address your Cropster invitation has been sent to and use the password you've generated when accepting the invitation. - Click the Login button.
Establishing a connection to the machine
- If you are setting up RI for the first time, click the Select machine button in the banner at the top or click Preferences > Machine > Configuration bottom left to access the machine preferences screen.
- Select the Roasting machine you would like to connect from the drop down menu (e.g. San Franciscan SF-6). If the machine is not in the list you can add via the online platform.
- After selecting the machine all supported measurements will load. Change the order of the measurements by using the drag and drop icon and moving it into position.
- Switch on the measurements you would like to enable and select San Franciscan PID from the drop down. Repeat this step for all measurements you would like to enable.
- Toggle the Rate of Rise checkbox for each measurement to activate or deactivate RoR.
- Click on the Gear icon to open the PID-settings.
- Copy the settings as shown in the screenshot below:
- Version: Eurotherm EPC3008
-
Serial port
Windows: choose the COM option that refers to the connection to the roaster.
Mac: choose the /dev/tty.usbserial option.
- Customize how each measurement is displayed by choosing to show it as a Curve on the graph and/or as Value in the sidebar on the right-hand side. You also have the option to adjust the size of the measurement in the sidebar.
- Click Save to confirm the changes.
RI will automatically restart after saving the changes. If the setup was successful you will be able to see temperature values on the right-hand side of the RI screen, after the restart.
Learn how to customize your RI user preferences.
Troubleshooting
If the RI indicates No source connected and/or you cannot see any measurements, please check the following:
- Is the roast machine connected to the computer?
- Have you downloaded the driver for the USB serial converter?
- Is the correct serial port within the RI selected?
- On MacOS: try installing the beta VCP driver. MacOS X10.15 to MacOS 11 (this is a Beta driver release and the installer should be run from the /Applications folder on your machine)
For further assistance, please create a support ticket by clicking the Support button in the left lower corner of the app. A Cropster support rep will get in touch with you.
Congratulations! You have successfully set up the Cropster Roasting Intelligence!
Check out the Roasting Intelligence (RI5) - Getting Started manual and enjoy tracking your first roasts! More manuals and videos can be found on help.cropster.com.