Smart Pet System

Pets play a huge role in our culture as Americans. We spoil them and try our best to take care of them because they provide a much needed serotonin boost in our lives. Unfortunately, most people can not stay at home all day with their pets. Both of us most definitely relate to that as full time students who also work part time jobs. Braxton owns a dog that lives with him in his apartment, and Kelvin has two cats that he takes care of in his apartment as well. The purpose of this project is to aid in taking care of our pets to make sure we are doing our best to take care of them as very busy people, and helps put our mind at ease when we are not currently with them. The purpose of this device is to ensure that the water bowl of the pet is full and to keep track of how many times our pets are fed. If we come back and notice our pet's water bowl is empty we would feel extremely guilty. We also both struggle with accidentally feeding our pets twice for the same meal as sometimes our roommates feed them for us without telling us, or we are forgetful about if we already fed them. People including ourselves may want this device as it puts pet owners at ease knowing that their furry friend that they care about deeply is well taken care of. Through the use of a water level sensor and a particle argon kit, we are able to create a program to detect when the water level is low and needs to be refilled. Through the use of a button, after someone feeds their pets it alerts anyone else who may be concerned that they fed their pet to avoid overfeeding them. We are able to look at the Particle IoT app to notify us when the water needs to be filled, notifications sent to our phone using a program called IFTTT when it needs to be filled, and have an LED turn on to signal anyone who may be at home to refill the water bowl. For the other part of the project, we receive IFTTT notifications when the pets are fed so everyone knows to not overfeed them. What makes this solution unique is that through the use of a mesh network you are able to put as many people that you need to receive these alerts and alert anyone who may be home with our pets that they need water by looking at the LED light signal.

Particle Argons Before Mounting to Water Bowl

Before assembly, the particle argon circuits were put together, programmed, and all sensors were tested.

Particle Argon with Water Sensor Mounted to Water Bowl

The Particle Argon that had the water level sensor on it was mounted to the bottom of the water bowl using the adhesive of the back of the breadboard. By using a drill, A hole was cut in the water bowl to feed the wires for the water sensor through. The water level sensor was mounted by using hot glue.

Particle Argon With Button Assembly

The Particle Argon with the button sensor was put into the box so it would look cleaner when it is sitting on a counter or table. Holes were cut on the box so the the button sensor and LED are on the outside while still maintaining a clean and minimalistic look.

Final Product

Below are pictures of the project and its final assembly.

IFFT Notifications

A program called If This Than That (IFTTT) was used so notifications can be sent to our phones to keep track of when pets are fed and if the water level is full.