When Geert Wanten’s wife got tired of opening up the chicken coop to let them out in the morning, he decided to automate the situation using an Arduino Nano.

Wanten’s DIY system calculates the sunup/sundown via info from a DS1307 RTC module, pulling the door up with a gearmotor and a spool of fishing line. Once it’s time to drop the door and close things up, the motor is reversed, keeping the chickens safe at night.

Magnetic sensors are implemented to tell the door state, and there’s a manual down switch that releases the door when activated, then goes into normal operation when flipped back.

Code for the project is available in Wanten’s write-up, and you can see it demonstrated in the video below.