Automated Food Dispenser

Be able to feed your pet from anywhere, or have them feed themselves!

IntermediateShowcase (no instructions)5 hours501

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Particle Argon

PIR Motion Sensor (generic)

Jumper wires (generic)

DFRobot Gravity:Digital Push Button (Yellow)

Software apps and online services

ThingSpeak API

Hand tools and fabrication machines

3D Printer (generic)

Story

We all live busy lives, and sometimes our schedules prevent us from feeding our pets. The last thing any pet owner would want is for their beloved furry companion to be stuck without food. With our pet feeder, you won’t ever have to worry about your furry friend going hungry.

Our automated pet feeder implements a motion sensor and remote control to activate the dispenser anywhere in the world! Even if you forget to feed your pet, they can go up to the feeder and it will dispense treats.

A servo motor is used to rotate the drum, allowing food to fall into the bowl. A PIR sensor module is used for motion detection. The amount of times this sensor can be triggered is limited per hour to ensure adequate proportions. A button switch is also connected to the feeder, which can be activated with no limit.

Dispenser Argon

Remote Control Argon

This remote control makes use of a button switch when clicked will activate the dispenser. There is no limit on the number of times this button can be used as it relies on human decisions.

Dispenser Setup

The rotating drum is connected to a custom D shaft with servo mounts. The bushings that the drum lies on have been lubricated and other sources of friction have been minimized.

PIR Motion Sensor

This motion sensor can be extremely sensitive, hence it is placed behind the feeder to prevent any random movements from triggering the feeder. The sensor can be tuned to further reduce the activation distance.

The remote sends a count to Thingspeak in order to display the number of times the feeder was used. This count is also used by the motion sensor.

Flow Chart

Events Log

This is the counter for the food dispenser.

Video

Schematics

Code

int sensorPin = 2;                  //Sensor pin
int servoPin = 5;                   //Servo pin
int motionsensorInput = 0;          //This reads the motion status
Servo myservo;

void setup() {
pinMode(D2, INPUT);                 //sets the motion sensor pin as an input
pinMode(A5, OUTPUT);                //sets the servo to be an output
myservo.attach(A5);                 //attaches the servo to the A5 pin
myservo.write(10);
delay(10000);                        //Calibration Delay for Motion Sensor
Particle.subscribe("Food", Food);    //subribes to the "Food" event
}

void loop() {
 motionsensorInput = digitalRead(D2);       //reads the input value
 if (motionsensorInput == HIGH){	        //checks to see if there is an input. 
    myservo.write(180);                     //rotates servo 180 degrees
    delay(1000);                            //delays 1 second
    myservo.write(10);                      //rotates the servo back to 10 degrees
    delay(1000);
}
else (motionsensorInput == LOW);{           //this else statement serves to break the loop and keep the servo at the 10 position
    myservo.write(10);
    delay(4000);
  }
}

void Food(const char *event, const char *data)      //this is the dispenser recieving the event from the button, it will trigger the same action as motion
{
    myservo.write(180); 
    delay(1000);
    myservo.write(10); 
    delay(1000);
}

int button = D3;            //assigns button to D3
int val = 1;                //creates the val variable
int counter = 0;            //sets counter to 0

void setup()
{
pinMode(button, INPUT);     //assigns button to input
}

void loop() {               //this loop will read the value of the D3 pin, and publish an event to the dispenser if the button is activated.
    
    val = digitalRead(button);
 
    if (val == HIGH) {
        counter = 5;
        Particle.publish("Food", String(counter));
        delay(1000);
    }
   else 
   {delay(100);
   }
}