Hi all,
I want to make an automated door opener using:
I have little programming understanding and not sure where to begin.
Can someone please help me to get started?
Many thanks!
L3and3r.
Start by writing the requirements of each part that you have placed on your annotated schematic. Then post both with questions asking where your problems are. Hint there are several chicken coop door projects on this forum.
Hello Leander,
Some considerations:
You might need a light sensor for your project, as chickens determine when to get up and when to go to bed by the light level (lux level), not the time of day. This varies a bit by breed of chicken, so you might want be able to adjust this a bit according to what breed you're working with if you're going for a more sophisticated design.
Do you need something with as many capabilities as an Uno? Take a look at the Nano maybe?
Will it need to be solar powered? If so, what panel/battery will you use?
How will you power both the controller and the motor? Check your input voltages.
Will it have a user interface of any kind (display/buttons etc)?
Chicken houses tend to have very different designs, so you may need to include a door in your project, to fit to the house, as it will be difficult to design an opener that works with any type of door.
Your door will need to have a design that prevents it being pushed open by predators. A simple up/down shutter door will not stop a fox, or rats for that matter.
You could use limit switches instead of a stepper motor, which may make the design more easily adaptable at a door hardware level.
Take a good look through all the example programs available through the IDE. They will give you a really good starting understanding of how to build simple programs and there are a great many examples on this forum of how to do much more complex stuff.
Have fun with your chickens and your project!
Thanks!
I have a working stepper motor now. Only have to fix the door to it. More advanced options are for future time