Published March 13, 2018

Lane Tech HS - PCL - Photon Powered Cat Feeder

Cat feeder powered by a Particle Photon allows you to feed your cat from anywhere in the world using the Blynk app.

IntermediateFull instructions provided2 hours779

Lane Tech HS - PCL - Photon Powered Cat Feeder

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Particle Photon

Pringles can

Generic Can

Servos (Tower Pro MG996R)

Jumper wires (generic)

Breadboard (generic)

Zip Tie

LED (generic)

Buzzer

Story

This home automation project is a very simple and straight forward way to feed your cat from anywhere around the world.

Using the Particle Photon microcontroller, and the Blynk app, I fully automated a cat feeder. With this device, I can use the Blynk app and with a single button, feed my cat and get notified of this.

Build:

This device was constructed using two cans, one being a long Pringles can and the other a shorter generic can. I cut a quarter of the top of each so that they will align in order to dispense the cat food.

These two were connected to each other with a servo and it's horn. The horn was attached to the Pringles can with zip ties while the high torque servo was attached the same way to the shorter can.

Once the two were secured together, I connected the cables to the Particle Photon in order to run.

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The Project also includes an LED and Buzzer that will light up and make a sound whenever the food is dispensed. I have been training my cat to listen for the sound his food is served.

Software/Code:

The code consisted of a for loop that would turn the servo 90 degrees in order to align the holes in the cans and release the cat food. I used the Blynk app in order to set a "Virtual Button" that would allow me to wirelessly activate the Cat Feeder and dispense the food. The code implementation into Particle's IDE was quick and easy. With a few lines of code and the verification key from the Blynk app, I was able to connect the Blynk app to my Photon and create the virtual button.

Schematics

File missing, please reupload.

Code

Untitled file

#include <blynk.h>
Servo myServo;
int servo = D1;
char auth[] = "f0dad839118c4b669c7ee939d1c5136d";
const int buzzer = D2;
int led = D3;
void setup()
{
 myServo.attach(D1);
 Serial.begin(9600);
 delay(5000); // Allow board to settle
 pinMode(buzzer, OUTPUT); // Set buzzer - pin 9 as an output
 pinMode(led, OUTPUT);
 Blynk.begin(auth);
}
// Attach a Button widget (mode: Push) to the Virtual pin 1
BLYNK_WRITE(V1) {
 if (param.asInt() == 1) { // On button down...
   digitalWrite(led, HIGH);   // turn the LED on (HIGH is the voltage level)
   delay(1000);                       // wait for a second
   digitalWrite(led, LOW);    // turn the LED off by making the voltage LOW
   tone(buzzer, 3000); // Send 1KHz sound signal...
   delay(1000);        // ...for 1 sec
   noTone(buzzer);     // Stop sound...
   digitalWrite(led, HIGH);   // turn the LED on (HIGH is the voltage level)
   delay(1000);                       // wait for a second
   digitalWrite(led, LOW);    // turn the LED off by making the voltage LOW
   for (int i = 0; i < 4; i++)
   {
     for (int i = 0; i < 180; i++)
     {
       delay(10);
       myServo.write(i);
     }
   }
   myServo.write(0);
   Blynk.notify("THE BEAST HAS BEEN FED");
 }
}
void loop()
{
 Blynk.run();
}

Credits

Sinai Martinez

2 projects • 6 followers

Lane Tech HS - PCL - Photon Powered Cat Feeder

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Story

Build:

Software/Code:

Custom parts and enclosures

img_20180313_113810_HhpoopNHln.jpg

Schematics

Untitled file

Code

Untitled file

Credits

Sinai Martinez

Comments

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Lane Tech HS - PCL - Photon Powered Cat Feeder

Lane Tech HS - PCL - Photon Powered Cat Feeder

Things used in this project

Hardware components

Story

Build:

Software/Code:

Custom parts and enclosures

img_20180313_113810_HhpoopNHln.jpg

Schematics

Untitled file

Code

Untitled file

Credits

Sinai Martinez

Comments

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