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Final Project

Planning the final project

Final Project concept :

Being a mom to an awesome middle-aged cat who needs constant attention about his health , I’ve always needed a device to assest in that . but all I can find was a pet feeder . I want to make something that can provide more : mentoring food and water , bathroom visits , maybe entertaining as well .

Product thinking :

This project should be useful to anyone having trouble tracking his pet’s behaviour . It should enable the user to control & monitor how much his pet eats , drinks & visits toilet . I’m thinking about a food despencer , maybe some mechanism & a sensor to track how much is eaten . I’m considering motion sensors to detect drinking and toilet visits . Maybe a screen to show data as well as transfering it to a phone . Still working on how this whole thing could be functional in the case of having 2 cats .

Initial Sketches :

Core Module

Construction Parts

The tower : cut as “Make something Big” assingment , MDF .

Input Devices

Motion Detector : To count the number of toilet visits . Weight Measuring : To keep track how much the cat eats . Push Button : To manually despence food (Thinking about training the cat to push it itself)

Output Devices

LCD : To show some statics collected . Motor : Despence food .

Microcontroller

Propably Attiny44

Power Managment

Power supply for motor

Interfacing & Communication

Still searching for a suitable way to send collected data to phone so it could be monitered remotely

Cat Tree structure

Thinking of a cat tower to implement my final project , as it will provide even more for my cats .

Fusion

Did a quick sketch inspired by some cat towers , thinking about adding briges later

Makit

Had fun creating a makit of a 1:3 scale ,

So we have a Cat Tower which :

  1. Despences food

  2. Weighs it to keep track how much the cat eats.

  3. Has a toilet room with a motion detection sensor to count how many times the cat visits the toilet .

  4. Has a Screen to show the collected statics .

  5. A button for despencing food .

Food Dispencer

Design

Worked on fusion , designing each part

The Tank

The Tank’s Lid

The food Door

Door Open

Door closed

Remains the motor mount ..

Files :

Tank

Lid

Door

Materials

Qty Description Price Link
1 Wood + Machining 35.00 $ https://www.facebook.com/sectorb51/
1 PVC pipes 10.00 $ Local shops
1 Spray + Thread 15.00 $ Local shops
1 3D printing 300.00 $ https://www.fablabegypt.com/
1 Acrylic + Laser 5.00 $ https://www.fablabegypt.com/
1 Sensor + PCB 4.00 $ https://ram-e-shop.com/product/kit-pir-module/
1 Servo + PCB 20.00 $ https://ram-e-shop.com/product/servo-mg996/
1 Cat food 4.00 $ Local shops

Fabrication

Cat Tower

Using the Makit to visualize ,, I drew each room on Fusion , And cut them on Simplex router .

All details are in Week 7 assingment

Then I added thread around the pipes as cats’ scratching poles .

Feeder

Using the circuit made on Week 12 assignment

And learning about ” 4 Bar rocker mechanism ” ,

I made my food dispencer and installed it in the Cat tower .

Started with some Prusa Music

Printing in progress

Done

cut the bars on Laser cutter

Tested their movement

Made a Holder for the board

and a base for the motor

And installed all in the Feeder Room

Sensor

Using the circuit made on Week 10 asignment

Made a mount for the Sensor and and the board .

I added a led and installed in a room to monitor cat’s visit in it .

Later on , I plan to upgrade the system where this sensor can send readings to a mobile app or something .

Poster

Designed on Photoshop .

Video

Made with a help of a friend on Adobe Premiere .

Here is a high quality version

Video


Last update: June 21, 2021