Hi guuys! New to this forum hehe. Soo, for our school project, we are tasked to create an Automated Pet Feeder System (both water and food) controlled by a Mobile App. The mobile app will be controlling the amount of foof or water to be distributed. Any ideas on what should we do on the Water Dispenser part? We first thought to use a water pump but we dont know if all water pump can be controlled by an arduino. TYIA!
Of course a water pump can be controlled by and arduino. I would start with an Uno and get a motor driver shield (they can control 4 motors) and then connect 1 to a water pump and one to some type of food pump.
Since you are new to all this, I'd start with getting my Uno connected to my PC and running the blink example, just to make sure things are working.
Then, I would install the motor driver library for whatever motor driver shield you buy (adafruit or Polulu) and get those examples working so you can make a pump run/stop.
Then I would think about what I am trying to accomplish and start building the program, piece by piece.
As you get stuck, you are welcome to post your code and your errors and your expectations (read the sticky post at the top of the forum to post properly) and people will push you in the right direction.
You should plan on a MOSFET or relay to control the pump motor. The Arduino is limited to 40mA max source, and I can't think of any pump motors that need less than an amp.
I would also recommend a float switch to keep from overflow. Timing won't work because you can't determine how much the pet has drunk since the last water fill.
Assuming dry food, how long does it need to supply food? A weekend, a week, a month?
I designed an Easter prop where a plastic egg would be dropped on command using small servos that the Arduino could drive.
Zarkiel:
Hi guuys! New to this forum hehe. Soo, for our school project, we are tasked to create an Automated Pet Feeder System (both water and food) controlled by a Mobile App.
I hope you have the rest of the year for all of this. That's quite an undertaking for a first project.
Water dispenser: a pump makes sense. Use a peristaltic pump and you can use time to dispense a pretty accurate quantity.
Food dispenser: dry, non-perishable food can be done with a screw. Use a stepper or DC motor with encoder for accurate quantity. Wet, perishable food is a whole different ballgame.
Mobile phone app: easiest is Android with App Inventor, this project should be simple enough to not hit the limits of AI too hard.
Communication: how do you plan on doing this? WiFi or Bluetooth?
Do everything step by step, make each part working on its own before integrating.