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cat_feeder

Arduino Powered Cat Feeder

img_20170218_174326 img_20170218_174338

Why

I was inspired by How to keep hungry tigers busy in the early morning [0][1] and some cats that especially love to eat until they vomit to make an Arduino-powered cat feeder that will dole out food little-by-little over the day so my cats aren't hungry and don't get a chance to eat until they're full to the point of vomiting. Thus was born my way-more-than-$20-hackable-cat-feeder.

Features

  • Randomly dispenses food at an interval you control
  • Allows you to set the minimum random interval
  • Allows you to set the maximum random interval
  • Allows you to set how long the feeder will remain open (and thus the amount of food) per feeding
  • Shows what time the next feeding will be
  • Allows you to do ad-hoc feedings at the press of a button
  • Has a menu system built-in that allows for the adjustment of previously mentioned settings and setting the clock
  • Has an RTC clock that will keep the time between power cycles
  • Stores settings in EEPROM for persistence between reboots
  • Turns off the LCD backlight after a period of inactivity
  • Cycles through LCD background colors when the backlight is on in hopes a random dance party will break out

Dependencies

https://github.com/adafruit/RTClib

https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit-RGB-LCD-Shield-Library

Issues

  • Has no bounds checking on the menu so you can scroll into oblivion and get lost
  • Has no bounds checking on the settings you can put in

Parts list

Part Cost Link
CR1220 12mm Diameter - 3V Lithium Coin Cell Battery 0.95 https://www.adafruit.com/product/380
RGB LCD Shield Kit w/ 16x2 Character Display 24.95 https://www.adafruit.com/product/714
Adafruit DS1307 Real Time Clock Assembled Breakout Board 7.50 https://www.adafruit.com/product/3296
TowerPro SG90 Micro Servo 2pk 7.95 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01608II3Q
Uno R3 8.99 https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01M1YIL43

[0] https://nachonachoman.svbtle.com/how-to-keep-hungry-tigers-busy-in-the-early-morning

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13271522