Make a cat feeder with Arduino, a servo and two cans
YouTuber “Mom Will Be Proud” and his family have a cat. And like all pets, their feline friend requires fresh food every morning. But rather than disrupt your sleep or daily routine, why not build an automated feeder using some spare parts? This is exactly what the Maker did using an Arduino, a servo, a simple button, a power supply, and two cans–one for housing the electronics, the other for the food.
Mom Will Be Proud cut little openings into each container, and connected them to a servo that rotates one on top of the other without ever getting stuck. A broken IKEA timer and a piece of plastic are used for the button, which when pressed, turn the cans until its holes match up and the food is dispensed into a bowl.
You can see how it works below!
August 30th, 2016 at 15:47:27
How did you train your cat to hit the button?
Can you create a device that keeps the cat from going in to a flower pot?
Maybe use air or water to scare away the cat.
August 31st, 2016 at 22:40:54
1. A cat will learn after you show it that the button is related to the food being dispensed. Then it eventually realizes that it presses the button to be fed. 2. Your suggestion is cruel to the cat, simply buy large, heavy pebbles to put on top of the pot. The cat would need to have opposable thumbs to take them out
August 31st, 2016 at 22:41:24
Sorry I meant to reply, not start a new comment
September 21st, 2016 at 03:56:21
I would like to recreate this project. However, I will try to add some kind of timer to limit dosages, as my cat is a bit overweight.
February 14th, 2017 at 12:13:15
[…] is a YouTuber and Arduino maker who crafted his own Arduino-based feeder for under $15, to feed his cat, Redhead. Built with Arduino UNO, a servo, and two cans, the […]
February 14th, 2017 at 13:02:01
[…] is a YouTuber and Arduino maker who crafted his own Arduino-based feeder for under $15, to feed his cat, Redhead. Built with Arduino UNO, a servo, and two cans, the […]
November 16th, 2017 at 23:40:24
What type of servo would be used for this project?