In this project we make an iot enabled pet feeder . Cat food or dog food is kept in a hopper and is delivered into a tray by a screw auger. This concept can be scaled up or modified to suit your particular requirements.

Step 1: 3d Print the Auger Drive and Supports

I used the auger drive system designed by odwdinc found from http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:688807 . I 3d printed the parts in pla and assembled the parts. For driving the auger a 60 rpm geared dc motor was used . you may select a motor appropriately . Since i wanted a small formfactor i mounted the motor under the auger and used a gear system to drive it . you can scale up the design and use an appropriate motor to drive it.This would be required for larger pets.

Step 2: Intel Edison and Relay Wiring

Intel edison arduino kit was used for this project . we used the groove iot kit , it was easy to plug the relay on to the grove board .The relay is connected to pin number 13` so that we can use the sample code - simple wifi webserver . http://www.seeedstudio.com/depot/Grove-Relay-p-769.html. The motor was connected in series with the motor . When the relay is triggered the motor will be energized and rotates driving the auger and dispensing food. If you dont have the groove kit a simple transistor can be used to drive the relay . You can follow this if you want to use just a relay https://www.instructables.com/id/Connecting-a-12V-Relay-to-Arduino/ .

Step 3: Programming

For the programming part we use the simple wifi webserver example with a few changes. Remember to use the arduino ide designed for the intel edison and not the normal one. After you have made the connections upload the sample code and test if the system is working by turning the motor on and off.

Once the motor is tested we can modify the sample code. Use a delay after the pin is turned high and after the delay turn the pin low. By adjusting the delay the amount of food dispensed can be controlled .

Troubleshooting -If the webserver doesnot work try changing the port to a different port than 80 (try 81). This is to be done as the edison uses port 80 to display a screen with its details and would be unavailable.

Step 4: Upgrades and Warning

Ir sensors can be placed inside the hopper and the food bowl to monitor the food levels.Simple html codes can be integrated with the code to get the data on the webpage.

Warning

Test the system well before relying on it to feed your pet . Faulty wiring, network issues ,jamming of the auger etc can cause the system to fail.