Cat gate
like watergate the hotel... not the scandal
Brainstorm
For my final project, I have decided to create an automatic cat feeder. I chose to do this because I currently face a problem with my three cats, each leading different lifestyles. Gumball has breathing issues and spends most of his days sleeping indoors. Pipoca (meaning popcorn in Portuguese) is the "wild" one who rarely stays indoors, enjoying exploring the land, climbing trees, and zooming around. Lastly, we have Gary, a mix of the two, capable of being very active or spending the whole day relaxing with Gumball. The three cats have varying food consumption patterns, and some tend to overeat due to different feeding times after we've fed them.
At the moment, Gumball and Gary are not at a healthy weight, while Pipoca is maintaining a healthy condition. If I start feeding one less, they end up eating each other's food. To address this issue, my solution is a modular cat feeding station. Each cat will have a designated feeding pod accessible only to them. These feeding pods will be connected to the main body where cat food is stored and dispensed to each pod separately.
more detailed sketches for the final project
Feeding Process
The feeding process would be automatic and controlled through a mobile app, allowing me to set different amounts of food for each cat. Additionally, the cat door would be activated by a specific cat collar, ensuring that it only opens for the designated cat. This system not only prevents my cats from overeating but also safeguards their food from other animals, avoiding disturbances during their meals. I live in an area where the cats are fed outside, elevated to prevent interference from dogs. However, birds and wasps in the summer still linger around their food.
My final project idea was heavily inspired by Pamela Martello's final project, where she made a cat door that only allows her cat to enter through it via his collar, and Toni F. Barreiros's final project, an automatic cat feeder that uses an Archimedes screw to dispense food.
UPDATES!!
updated look and mechanism idea for my project
Paper sketches and ideas
With the deadline approaching, I had to start thinking more detailed about the mechanics of my project. I went through a few ideas that I had started to work on: for the rotation of the feeding mechanism, I had considered making a gear system where everything was on top of a big gear and the motor had a smaller gear that would drive the bigger one. This idea then evolved into a belt-driven system inspired by how 3D printers work. This system was basically like this: the feeding mechanism would rest on top of a turntable. The turntable would be made with a sandwich of 3 layers. The top layer is where the feeding mechanism would be attached, the middle layer would look like a big gear with teeth so that the belt could be attached to it, and the bottom layer would be a turntable that would allow everything to rotate in place smoothly.
I sketched this idea during system integration week and even started designing and testing gear sizes to be laser cut. I followed a video tutorial to design a parametric gear that fit the chosen belt type. The plan was to laser cut this, so the first test I made was a small gear, and it was a perfect fit. However, when I made a bigger gear, only certain parts fit the belt and others were off by a few mm. This would be enough to make the belt slip and skip steps. Basically, the minuscule differences and errors added up in some places. If I had time, I could try various different designs and small changes until I got the correct fit, but with the deadline looming, I had to change my plans. The belt system would have been a great idea. It would have been a cool system that allowed for more torque and less stress on the motor.
The next idea, which I went through with, was having the motor at the bottom of the feeding mechanism and a turntable or bearing in between. The feeding mechanism would rest on the turntable, and this would bear the weight, and the motor would just rotate the turntable. So I started searching for a bearing or a lazy susan turning part that I could use. I ended up finding a cheap office chair bearing, which was perfect for my needs. It was a good size, and since it was meant to bear the weight of a person, it was strong enough to hold the feeding mechanism.
