I am working through the Arduino tutorials on this page:
but there are so many and I don't feel that I need to learn them all at this point. I was wondering if someone can advice me on which tutorials and functions to learn and master for my project. Here is my project: I am building a simple pet feeder, which will consist of an motor driving a shaft connected to a snack dispenser that will dispense food twice a day at preset times or at 12 hour intervals.
What aspect of Arduino programming would be most helpful?
What aspect of Arduino programming would be most helpful?
The ones you don't already know.
Your project breaks down into several parts. You need to be able to set a pin high to start the motor. You need to be able to set it low to stop the motor. There may need to be limit switches involved, so you may need to be able to read switch states. You'll need some kind of motor controller. The Arduino can't power a motor directly.
You need to be able to tell what time it is. The Arduino doesn't come with a watch. It has a millis() function that can be used for relative times (relative to when the Arduino started), but is useless for absolute times. And cats, in particular, are pretty finicky about absolute times.
You might want to show, on a LCD, what time it is and when the next feeding is.
You might want to sound an alarm before feeding, or call the critters after feeding. Or not. It's your project.
Thanks! I obviously know the basic functions and have done a few of the sketches...I am just going to work my way through as many of the tutorials as I can, but sometimes, doing the tutorials is less "exciting" than working on a real project with an end result in mind. I could also start with a simpler project too. Thanks for the suggestions!