Arduino Powered Cat Feeder
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.
- 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
https://github.com/adafruit/RTClib
https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit-RGB-LCD-Shield-Library
- 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
| 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