10 ms·
Build your own hackable automated cat feeder for $20
- Waterluvian 10y agoIs foraging actually natural? Don't cats kill their meal, leaving it all in the same place? Sounds more like an excuse I'd give my wife for why I solved the tampering problem by introducing a mess problem.
- pweissbrod 10y agoActually making cats employ more hand/eye coordination to get their food is considered a healthier alternative to just laying it in a bowl. For example: https://www.google.com/search?q=cat+challenge+bowl&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8#q=cat+challenge+bowl&tbm=shop https://www.google.com/search?q=cat+challenge+bowl&ie=utf-8&...
- Waterluvian 10y agoMakes sense. Pulling the nutrients out of a rodent carcass would take considerably more effort and paw eye coordination than just eating kibble from a bowl. I was more focused on the "foraging" concept with regard to cats. I don't think cats forage.
- Zachery 10y agoIn nature, the cat would wonder and "forage" to find prey to eat. Years ago we rescued a barn cat, she would wonder all over the area to find food (few mi radius): birds, mice, etc.
- Waterluvian 10y agoYeah. I guess now I'm just being pedantic on foraging vs. hunting. =) Barn cats are so cool! Little murderfloofs with their instincts well intact.
- pweissbrod 10y agoOP here. As my friends have pointed out this wont work so well if you have a dog :(
- jaclaz 10y agoWell, it won't work with cats either, it will take anything between one nanosecond and 15 seconds to rip open the thingy after having taken it out of the wall (high as you might hang it). Compare with this recent post (the OP there maybe overdid it a tad bit, still...): https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13230904 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13230904
- jasone 10y agoI went through a similar process in 2003 with two cats that begged incessantly for food. I had to bolt the feeders (of different manufacture and style) down to a sheet of melamine and add thin metal shielding at the front to prevent the cats from reaching up the chute to the auger, but IMO Furiosa's feeder is grossly over-engineered due to leaping from various half-baked initial anchoring attempts directly to a doomsday device. In any case, our collected experiences suggest that cat feeder manufacturers do not adequately field test their devices.
- jaclaz 10y agoYep, or maybe we have smarter or more persistent cats. Anecdotally, once I had two cats that I "trained" to use a catdoor I had just installed. Cat #1 learned to use it in like three times I guided him thought the thingy. Cat #2 simply couldn't grasp the idea and after like 100 attempts I gave up. Later I heard "boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, tlatlac!", cat #2 never learned to use the catdoor "properly", or maybe he had some vision defect, cannot really say, but he got that it was a way in so it simply went head in on the whole door (from left to right in 15 cm steps) until he got through the cat door. One way or the other, he got in.
- mattkevan 10y ago
- StavrosK 10y agoFriends don't let friends use Arduinos. Please use a Wemos D1 Mini, which costs $3, has WiFi, runs your Arduino code almost unmodified, and is amazing.
- noonespecial 10y agoAlso has an NTP library that's simple to use so you won't need a ridiculous 1960's mechanical wall timer to time your modern micro board.
- Alupis 10y ago> Please use a Wemos D1 Mini It's actually the ESP8266 chip inside that you're after. It runs Arduino code, although you must tell your IDE you're targeting an ESP8266 (it has special libraries for wifi use, etc...). ESP8266's come on many boards, including the bare-boned ESP-01 [1], which is even cheaper at $1.53 per each. The only problem with ESP8266's, is they are very power hungry, requiring 500mA-1A for doing wifi related things. Although, when not using WiFi, you can shut down the antenna and save on power consumption. [1] https://www.aliexpress.com/item/ESP8266-Serial-Esp-01-WIFI-Wireless-Transceiver-Module-Send-Receive-LWIP-AP-STA/32278773466.html https://www.aliexpress.com/item/ESP8266-Serial-Esp-01-WIFI-W...
- JosephRedfern 10y ago1A? Do you have a source for that? It could have an impact for a project I'm working on. Most documentation I've seen seems to state a typical max draw of <250mA (for instance, http://bbs.espressif.com/viewtopic.php?t=133 http://bbs.espressif.com/viewtopic.php?t=133) -- I guess there will be some spikes, but I was never aware of anything approaching 1A.
- Alupis 10y agoThe 1A figure might be more of a precaution - can't find anything "official" from Espressif (ESP8266 manufacturer), although most people on forums seem to agree 500mA is as low as you want to go. Seems you can expect ~250-300mA to be normal when using wifi. Anecdotally, I've experienced reliability issues when running off 500mA, but that could just be my setup + accessories. It's funny how it works - last time I went down the rabbit hole on the tail end of a late night session, everything pointed at 1A being considered "safe", and anything lower was "iffy". If you put the chip into any of the Deep Sleep modes, power consumption goes way down to just a few mA's, making battery operation much easier. http://www.esp8266.com/viewtopic.php?p=57788#p57788 http://www.esp8266.com/viewtopic.php?p=57788#p57788
- agentgt 10y agoI would love to build more devices but the thought of installation always bothers me. I always hate having to hang things on a wall. It requires either finding a stud that is close by or using a crappy dry wall screw or molly screw. I'm particularly unlucky because I live in an ancient house so studs are never ever close by and all the walls are plaster so that means 1 inch hole with a molly screw (with chips of plaster and dust and follow up vacuum job... god forbid you ever take the thing down because now you have to patch the hole back up). There has to be better solutions to attach things to the wall (and yeah I have done the whole velcro command strip thing as well).
- icebraining 10y agoYou don't expand on the problems you had with the strips, but that's my go-to option and except for the occasional loss of paint on removal, they work fine. Have you tried the non-velco versions? They might be more appropriate for your needs.
- agentgt 10y agoThe humidity seems to be the killer to the strips. They work for a while and then eventually fail.
- cr0sh 10y agoHave you tried 3M Command Adhesive hooks? As long as you clean the surface with rubbing alcohol, they can hold a lot of weight (a couple of the medium-sized ones would suffice for this cat feeder, I think).
- pimlottc 10y agoSeconded on 3M Command Adhesives, and if humidity is a problem, there are water-resistant ones meant for the bath that work quite well.
- cr0sh 10y agoIf you had real drywall, an alternative to a toggle or molly screw would be to drywall anchors; there are two types. One type is fairly common (and might be able to be used with plaster - maybe) which has a plastic insert you install into a drilled hole, then when you thread the screw into it, it expands to wedge itself in the hole. IIRC, the largest of these can hold about 30-50 lbs in drywall (probably less in plaster). The second type uses a large threaded insert; the hole you drill for this is typically larger than the screw which threads into it, but the anchor can hold much more weight (up to 150 lbs per anchor in drywall). I don't think they can be used in plaster, though, as they are meant to thread into the drywall. I've used both successfully for a number of projects in my house; I have an entire wall (about 12 x 8 feet) of bookshelves (using shelving standards and melamine shelving) held up by the threaded anchors (hundreds of pounds of books). I have used the expanding anchors for heavy items like large pictures and mirrors, among other items. The major downside with any of these anchors, though, just like molly or toggle bolts they leave larger holes which need to be filled if you move the item. Hence, you typically only use them for items which will rarely, if ever, be moved.
- StavrosK 10y agoMy cat is completely blind, making her an ideal test subject for a homemade cat feeder, but she also doesn't overeat, so I just leave three days' worth of cat food in her bowl and she eats a bit every so often.
- fn42 10y agoI'm surprised to see this is the only comment mentioning leaving a bowl of food out 24/7. This is how it's done at every shelter I have volunteered at (and how I do it at home) - the cats should always have access to water and some form of food. The wet (canned) food is what you have to be more careful with because the cats will compete for it.
- Zachery 10y agoSome cats will pig out, even if food is regularly available and not scarce. You don't want to overfeed them. This gets way more complicated as the number of cats increase.
- mschuster91 10y agoCats will also fight over dry food. Source: have two cats who like to steal each others' food (dry or wet) and bash each other regularly... and occasionally I'm the victim of full paw bashing in the morning, when they're hungry. Sadly OP solution wouldn't help me because they 'd just kick the food under thr sofa where it can rot...
- pweissbrod 10y agofood hockey!
- kayla210 10y agoI guess it depends on your animal's feeding habits. My dogs don't overeat, so we just leave the food out and refill it when needed. Dry food, that is. For wet food, they'd just about fight over it.
- pweissbrod 10y ago
- mbernstein 10y agoFrom what I've read / discussed with animal nutritionists, you want to feed your cats pure protein wet food. They get more water from wet food than they do from drinking water. Plus you avoid a ton of crappy things they put in a bunch of dry foods. I feed mine Wellness Core and they love it.
- Zachery 10y agoIf you want to go down that route; feeding them raw and making their cat food would be for the best. However there is nothing wrong with dry food supplemented with other food. We all have limitations on the amount of time we can spend with our loved ones (animals included). Making sure they are fed is very important, but sometimes you can't be around when they need their food. This seems exactly like the best solution to the individuals problem.
- ianai 10y agoI had a lot of success switching a cat to a wet diet. It cleared up many health issues for her. Dry food is their junk food.
- digler999 10y agowhat about their teeth ? I've heard, at least for dogs, that the crunchy dry food helps keep their teeth healthy
- idunno246 10y agothats an old wives tale. And if my cats teeth are any indication, a dry diet didn't prevent any problems Granted, there's no proof that wet is better, there's just a ton of anecdotal evidence that dry food leads to dehydration and kidney issues. I had to switch entirely to wet due to diabetes. Surprisingly, fancy feast classic is one of the most recommended foods.
- ianai 10y agoTake them in for their regular vet visits.
- leot 10y ago(Shameless plug) CleverPet Hubs work with cats, too! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzXwrXEkmHM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lzXwrXEkmHM Also, there have been rumors that the Hubs will be user-hackable in short order. And they use Particle Photons in any case ...
- Tempest1981 10y agoWhat is the code trying to do? Sweep left (food starts falling), wait on average 90 sec (food gone?), sweep right, wait 85ms. Then does it stop, or repeat the loop (until the outlet timer turns it off)?
- rrauenza 10y agoI think left is closed. So it starts by issuing the close command, waiting a random amount of time, opening, delaying 85ms, then restarting the loop by closing. The random sleep seems unusual, though -- I would have normally done delay(random(1802) 1000) -- is this a particular idiom with a benefit I don't know about?
- Tempest1981 10y agoSo the intent is an 85 ms burst of food, every couple of minutes -- that makes more sense. The initial "close" threw me. Is the door initially open? Or are we just jamming it shut and stressing the servo?
- rrauenza 10y agoI assumed it was some kind of fail safe... Always start the loop in the closed position. In case the Arduino got reset mid cycle...
- Tempest1981 10y agoI wonder how often power shuts off during the delay(85 ms) time window. Statistically maybe a 1 out of 1000 chance. Probably more likely to shut off while opening/closing the door -- in those 2 loops (2 out of 1000?). Assuming an average main loop of ~85 seconds. Kitty jackpot!
- pweissbrod 10y agoIt repeats the loop from the top
- elif 10y agoCats will get cat acne if you don't clean their food dish... or force them to eat off of the floor.
- milesokeefe 10y agoInteresting, I had never heard of that. Here's some more info on it: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feline_acne#Causes https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feline_acne#Causes
- wcummings 10y agoHope it doesn't kill your cat. Doesn't seem like something I'd want to "hack".
- pweissbrod 10y agoDropping dry food on the ground stands little chance of killing tigers. In the event of a malfunction and all the food is dropped I believe the tigers will actually throw a party. In the event the tigers die from overeating then I am a terrible tiger dad and they die a happy death. I do not know how to hack a tiger per se but I like tigers. Which is why I built this. So I dont see myself intentionally putting them in any form of danger.
- cowpewter 10y agoI don't really see how it could kill the cat. I guess maybe if it fell off the wall and landed on one but since it's mostly light plastic and tape, I doubt it would hurt the cat much if he/she failed to dodge the falling device. If you're worried about starvation, the article mentioned that this was only for the morning meal, so that the cats won't drag their human out of bed. If it malfunctions and doesn't turn on, I suspect the cats would fall back to dragging their human out of bed. This isn't for long term "away" feeding - the human will know it malfunctioned long before the cats are in any danger of starvation.
- inopinatus 10y agoCan you not tell from the title that this is a feeder for a hackable automated cat.
- caub 10y agothere are billions of cats, they are totally useless, a big loss of energy, and damage for environment (they kill birds, lizards, bees, ..)
- mysterpaul 10y agoHumans even more so.
- pweissbrod 10y agoThanks for your contribution! You've totally changed my outlook on life. Next post will be on how to build an automated cat killer for $20. Happy holidays!
- caub 10y agothat would be useful
- dang 10y agoPlease don't start pet flamewars. Or any other flamewars, but especially pet flamewars.
- caub 10y agobecause? they are useless again, they are some weird kind of animals that have evolved and were selected to please humans, they are completely useless to the ecosystem, worse, they are harmful to it. That's the state of the current human idiocracy and overconsumption. The accumulation of those stupidities are killing the Earth
- mSparks 10y agoplease take your life somewhere else.
- BlytheSchuma 10y agoIf only he had another less creepy pet name for his cats. "Eat it up! Eat it ALLL up my little Tigers!"
- pweissbrod 10y agoSorry I creeped you out man. My cat strongly prefers the word tiger as his reference. I think is cousin is an ocelot or something
- mplewis 10y agoOP said he got "sticker shock" from shopping for automated cat feeders, but... how? The link he posted shows plenty that are $30. And the really well-reviewed gravity feed ones are $60 at most.
- pweissbrod 10y agoYeah that was lazy work on my part. These pet feeders are quite reasonably priced. But i was looking for something with programmability. I still want to feed my tigers breakfast. I just want them to be OK with me sleeping in. So the compromise is to have something that disperses very small amounts of dry food at unpredictable intervals to keep them entertained and have a light appetizer while dad gets another 45 mins sleep. The feeders capable of doing that level of configurability started at $150 and they were quite impressive but I personally felt compelled to make something fully programmable for the way my house works. But youve got a good point here so I will update the link. EDIT: the link I was talking about was thhis: http://www.super-feeder.com/ http://www.super-feeder.com/ It is very cool if money is not an object to you
- anotherevan 10y agoReminds me of this recent HN post on cat-proofing a cat feeding machine: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13230904 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=13230904 http://quinndunki.com/blondihacks/?p=3023 http://quinndunki.com/blondihacks/?p=3023 And the older one on making Monkey the cat hunt for his dinner: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10021268 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10021268 http://benjaminmillam.com/cat-geek/monkey-the-cat-hunts-for-dinner/ http://benjaminmillam.com/cat-geek/monkey-the-cat-hunts-for-...
- Fnoord 10y agoI prefer to drop the food in their bowl instead of on the ground. Less messy.