1. Principles and practices¶
Assignments for week 1 :¶
-
Build a personal site. Click here to see the result
-
Plan and sketch a potential Final project.
The goal for this week is to plan and sketch a potential idea for my final project which will be developed using all the skills that I will learn in the coming weeks. I have talked with instructor and explained my project concept. My instructor got me throw to consider all the essential parameters involved in the process before finalizing the final project. So basically, this week I worked on defining my final project and started to get used to the documentation process.
Automatic cat food dispenser¶
+ 
+ 
+ 
+ 
my final project will be an automatic cat food dispenser, for this project I will design a case which holds the food in it and the plate will be wood because some cats are allergic to plastic in general , the food will be served as portions so when the plate is empty the sensor which can be ( weight sensor or ultrasonic sensor) will measure the foods weight if it’s a weight sensor or the foods height in the food holder if its ultrasonic sensor, if the foods weight or height is less than the required portion weight or height a signal will be send to the microprocessor and the plate will be refiled again, after 15 to 20 minutes a laser will turn on and move in several directions so the cat can play and don’t get bored, also when its time for the cat to eat and the portion is served a speaker will turn on to alert the cat that its time to eat and the sound that will alert the cat will be the owners voice, on the other hand the cat food dispenser will be connected to a mobile application to warn the cat owner if the food is empty .
Here is a simple sketch of the final project¶
inspiration :¶
i was inspired by Toni’s final project he also did a cat food dispenser Click here to see his final project
Final project Plan¶
| Designing | Week 2 | in this week i did the first point in the process and its to design a food dispenser and a case for the final project | time needed : 4 days | Here is the result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Laser cutting | Week 3 | in this week i have cut the case design | time needed : 1 day | Here is the result |
| 3D printing | Week 5 | in this week i have 3D printed the food dispenser and measured the food portions | time needed : 3 days | Here is the result |
| Electronics design “Input” | Week 9 | in this week i have designed a board for my microphone | time needed : 3 days | Here is the result |
| Electronics design “Output” | Week 11 | in this week i have designed a board for my stepper motor, servo motor and the speaker | time needed : 4 days | Here is the result |
1. The process :¶
-
the food holder will be designed using fusion 360 and 3D printed using ultimaker3.
-
the case will be designed on fusion 360 and it will be cut by laser cut and CNC.
- the food will be served as portions and to do that i will design a food dispense mechanism using fusion 360 and it will be printed using Ultimaker3 and it will be connected to a step motor.
- the cat food dispenser will be connected to a mobile application which i will build to alert the owner of the cat if the food is empty.
- the laser will be connected to a servo motor which will turn on after 20 minutes from serving the food to the cat.
- the speaker will be connected to the microprocessor and the voice of the owner will be recorded and saved using SD card and will be uploaded to the speaker.
- the weight sensor will be connected to the plate and the microprocessor so when its empty the step motor that is connected to the food dispense machine responds and serve the food.
- a small keychain will be connected to the case and i will design it using Fusion 360 and create it on the moulding and casting week.
- all the electronics will be designed using EAGLE software and cut by monoFab SRM-20.
The Final outcome will help cat owners if they had to leave their cats alone for a long period of time !!
2. List of some parts and components that i need to make this project:¶
| Input | Output | Power supply | Materials | link for each component | Machines used |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 x Weight sensor | 1 x Stepper motor | 1 x 12VDC 74mA for the stepper motor | Plywood | for the weight sensor | CNC for cutting the Plywood |
| 1 x HX711 | 1 x speaker “greeting card” | 1 x 9V for the servo motor | Acrylic | for the stepper motor | Laser cutter and vinyl cutter for the acrylic and the stickers |
| Microphone | 1 x Servo motor | 1 x 5V for the board | PLA | for the 12V Power supply | ultimaker3 for 3D printing |
| SD card reader | 2 x Laser | -------- | --------- | for the greeting card | Monofab SRM-20 for milling the Boards |