I build a fully automated 5g reflux still at the outset of the pandemic.
Beyond the initial charge of the boiler, swapping jars and cleanup, everything was automated. I even had a load cell to pause the boiler when either the jar was removed or reached a certain weight so that was ready for a robot arm or belt.
It's an extremely rewarding process to automate a physical plant like that because so many things can go wrong and there are so many edge cases, weird feedback loops and idiosyncracies of equipment that isn't obvious until you try it with another thing. I used nodered on a raspberry pi for all of the brains, mqtt for coordination and a swarm of nodeedu running tasmota for all of the I/O.
The main challenge is not getting too comfortable and starting to take shortcuts with safety. Pressure vessels, high voltage switching, fumes and flammable gases/liquids can ruin your day.
Beyond the initial charge of the boiler, swapping jars and cleanup, everything was automated. I even had a load cell to pause the boiler when either the jar was removed or reached a certain weight so that was ready for a robot arm or belt.
It's an extremely rewarding process to automate a physical plant like that because so many things can go wrong and there are so many edge cases, weird feedback loops and idiosyncracies of equipment that isn't obvious until you try it with another thing. I used nodered on a raspberry pi for all of the brains, mqtt for coordination and a swarm of nodeedu running tasmota for all of the I/O.
The main challenge is not getting too comfortable and starting to take shortcuts with safety. Pressure vessels, high voltage switching, fumes and flammable gases/liquids can ruin your day.