The data modems mbSPIDER of the German company MB Connect Line are in action worldwide – e.g. for monitoring temperatures or for capturing consumption data. While brainstorming for further practice possibilities, the idea of equipping a barbecue smoker with a temperature monitor came up.
MB Connect Line headquarter is located in Germany and operates an Office in Chicago, IL. This company is a successful manufacturer of remote maintenance solutions. The data modem mbSPIDER is able to capture e.g. physical values such as temperature, pressure or flow and displays them on a smart phone.
Via Internet, the data modems are connected to the central portal server mbCONNECT24 which allows to access the measured values for web-based terminal devices such as smart phones and tablets. The BBQ smoker example shows that there are several fields of application for the data modem beside the classical area as industrial automation, facilities engineering and infrastructure.
The smoker and a grill were equipped with temperature sensors. The connection to the analog input of mbSPIDER takes place with the help of a transducer clamp. Pictures of smoker and grill can be found on the website of the data modem (bbq.mbconnectline.com).
The measured temperatures are displayed where the temperature sensor is mounted. Furthermore, there is a limit value monitor integrated which sends out an alarm text message in case of a drop of temperature beneath the minimum level.
Coincidentally, on August 3, 2014 the championship of the German Barbecue Association e.V. took place. Mr. Siegfried Mueller, chief engineer and CEO of MB Connect Line, arranged the team “Speel the firit”, consisting of colleagues and friends which competed in the category amateurs.
This competition took place in the German city Schweinfurt and it included seven courses which were to be grilled according to an exact timetable. Thanks to mbSPIDER the guests could follow up on the current temperatures with their own smart phones.
In the end, MB Connect Line won the third place for the first course. “Since we only had one evening to prepare, we are very satisfied with this result,” Mr. Mueller said happily. “Even though we all are enthusiastic hobby grillers, there was no professional griller in our team.” The test area has proven successful and will certainly be used again.