If you are interested in Internet of Things projects, this tutorial is a simple and very practical way to get started. The Electric Imp platform was created specifically for Internet of Things devices, and measuring temperature is a great way to learn.

In this tutorial, we will be connecting an Electric Imp to the Adafruit MAX31855 Thermocouple Amplifier breakout board using one of the Serial Peripheral Interface Buses (SPI) available on the Electric Imp. Then we will connect a K-type thermocouple, and send the data to Xively and Twitter.

Our maker objectives:
  • Assemble the breakout boards.
  • Breadboard the circuit, and attach the thermocouple.
  • Load the Electric Imp device code, and log temperature data in the Web IDE.
  • Create a Xively.com developer account, and a Feed and Channel to push data to.
  • Load/Configure the Electric Imp agent code for Xively, and push temperature data.
  • Optionally, download the iPhone app "Pitchfork", and subscribe to our Xively Feed.
  • Create a Twitter developer application and configure it to tweet from the Imp.
  • Load/Configure the Electric Imp agent code for Twitter and tweet our temperature data.
Our learning objectives:
Thermocouples are really great for extreme temperatures! Here are some projects ideas.
  • BBQ/Grill/Smoker temperature monitor
  • Oven temperature monitor
  • Homebrewing temperature monitor (Mashing, chilling, boiling, fermenting, ect)
  • SMT reflow oven temperature monitor/control
  • Fridge/Freezer/Kegerator temperature monitor
  • Soldering Iron temperature monitor

This guide was first published on Sep 11, 2013. It was last updated on Mar 08, 2024.

This page (Overview) was last updated on Sep 06, 2013.

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