“A Homebrew Cat Feeding Robot” Curtis C. Chen Ignite Portland 10
Ignite Portland 10: "A Homebrew Cat Feeding Robot" - Curtis C. Chen
Dec 05, 2014
If your household has two or more cats, you’ve probably had to deal with the problem of feeding. Maybe one cat needs to go on a diet. Maybe another cat hoovers up more than his fair share of kibble. Maybe both cats demand to get fed at oh-dark-thirty every morning, when humans would rather be sleeping. Why, cats, why?
Our multi-part solution: set up an automatic feeder to dispense dry cat food on a schedule; rig a webcam to monitor feline activity; create a simple web page to view captured images; download smartphone apps for remote access.
I'll describe our ongoing process of refining hardware and software, and do my best to convince you that we’re not crazy cat people. We’re just geeks who love our family.
MORE INFO: http://snout.org/foodrobot
Our multi-part solution: set up an automatic feeder to dispense dry cat food on a schedule; rig a webcam to monitor feline activity; create a simple web page to view captured images; download smartphone apps for remote access.
I'll describe our ongoing process of refining hardware and software, and do my best to convince you that we’re not crazy cat people. We’re just geeks who love our family.
MORE INFO: http://snout.org/foodrobot
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Transcript
“A Homebrew Cat Feeding
Robot”Curtis C. ChenIgnite Portland 10
Problem:
CATS.
Jasper likes to sleep.
Tye likes to
eat.
Solution:
ROBOT!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/donsolo/4729336091/http://www.flickr.com/photos/jdhancock/4833395890/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/wbeem/5428551033/
@%$#!
Hardware + Automation = ROBOT
Aquarium feeder
Analog timer
Webcam, netbook,
lamp
FoodCam
FoodCam
text-only web page
web page
remote access
to netbook
FoodCam
FoodCam
FoodCam
FoodCam
FoodCam
FoodCam
FoodCam
FoodCam
FoodCam
FoodCam
FoodCam
A successfulauto-feeding
event:
v1 v1.1 v1.2
v2.1 v2.5 v2.6
barricade bumpers2 bowls
wider ramp
trough
Forked ramp
v2.6
November 24, 2010
JoCo Cruise Crazy: Purrsday
v2.6 v2.6
Bowls moved out of place
Mouse toy WTF
JoCo Cruise Crazy: Caturday
v2.7 v2.7
Ramp completely detached
Food in moat OMG
JoCo Cruise Crazy: Meownday
v2.7 v2.7
Ramp out of alignment
SRSLY
Food in moat
2011: Good News, Everyone!
v3.3v2.8
Feeder taped
down to island
Loudspeaker
“Spikes”
Reinforced ramp
@%$#!
v3.3
January 20, 2012
Food Robot FTW!!!!1!!one!
curtis.c.chen
@sparCKL
www.SNOUT.org/ip10
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