Projets:Perso:2013:AutomaticCatFeeder

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Automatic cat feeder with scale
Auteur Pilou
Date de proposition 15/04/2013
Tags du projet arduino;
Lieu d'utilisation final @Home
Utilisateur final Crazy cat lady
Type de projet

Projet personnel de Pilou

Projet Automatic cat feeder with scale
  • Dry food
  • Rotary cylinder for stocking and dispense to the scale
  • Scale



This automatic cat feeder have to precisely weigh the food (1 gram precision).


Brainstorming:

  • a turning cylinder with a trap for filing and a hole for emptying.
    • on a side just a hole
    • on the other side the filing trap
  • a bowl fixed to a scale with a servomotor receive the food.
  • when the desired weight is reached, the bowl is poured to a dish.
  • Battery and wall-plug powered.(In case of power breakdown)
  • Detect when the food level is low in the cylinder (IR barrier)

Preliminary:

  • find a scale who can be easily read by an arduino
  • find the size of the hole in the cylinder

Electronic/Hardware/Software:

  • Arduino with SDcard/RTC
  • Serial to bluetooth module

Power:

  • USB battery charger connected to a 5V wall-plug.
    • Provide 5V even if the power is down.

Ideas:


Progress

23/05/2013

Extraction of a Strain gauge from an electronic scales (about 8€ on ebay). The scale is build for a maximum of 1kg, after 1kg the voltage continue to raise

TODO

  • Add gain to the strain gauge to have 5V when 1kg is reached.
  • Prototyping of the tube feeder.
  • Find a transparent tube (for prototype grey pvc tube)


Feel free to correct my english!