D.I.Y. Automatic Dog Feeder

Overview

Objectives/Goals The objective of this project is to prototype an automatic dog feeder with several features, such as a dispenser of leftover food that the dog cannot finish, a resettable alarm, and a motion detective camera. Methods/Materials I followed the engineering process to prototype the machine. Afterwards, I used a multimeter to measure the power usage of the machine and its components. The main components of the machine are an Arduino Uno, 2 servos, a LCD Keypad Shield, an IP Camera, and a RTC DS1307. Results I measured the current and watts of every major component that was controlled by the Arduino. According to my data, Servo #2 consumed a surprising amount of energy compared to the other components. The LCD Keypad + RTC consumed about half the amount of the second Servo at 9V Max, which was pretty unpredicted. In my other measurements, I calculated the total power usage (per run) of my automatic dog feeder, and compared it to other designs on the market. There is a considerable difference in power usage, mine having the lower electricity usage. Compared to the first prototype I created, the second model is tremendously improved in all areas, including the hardware/mechanical and software elements. Conclusions/Discussion At the beginning of my project, I made a list of requirements for my future automatic dog feeder. With every new prototype, I achieved more and more requirements. My final design fulfilled all of my necessities, and I even had enough time to add in a few features. With one unsuccessful run after another, I gained knowledge from those failures and improved my prototype. The program code was varied a numerous amount of times due to these tests. Near the end of the completion of my project, I began to measure the power usage of my machine, my number one requirement on the list. I wanted to compete with other automatic feeders that are already accessible on the market, and investigate whether I could enhance my design by reducing the power usage. According to the results, I did overthrow some auto-feeders in power efficiency. Overall, this project was a great experience, and I will continue to engineer several other electronic devices to improve the lives of people. Evaluating my old requirements list, I believe I have achieved all my goals for the machine, and even added extra features to the final product.

Competition history

• CSEF 2015 Electronics & Electromagnetics · Entry J0919

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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