Petmate Automatic Pet feeder

Other Hardware Device Hacking
1

I had a problem with my LeBistro Petmate automatic feeder. The microcontroller blew an input pin and there were no replacement parts available. Having recently discovered Arduino I decided to try to run it off the Arduino. I offer up here a sketch and set of photos for anyone else who wants to do this. This is a simple solution that just runs one scoop every 12 hours. It is easy to modify the timing and servings in the sketch, but this is not elaborate. It does not drive the original LCD and has no "clock". The timing starts when you reset the micro.

Anyway, just in case it helps anyone here is a zip file with a few pictures and the .ino file:
https://dl.dropbox.com/u/68998630/arduino/LeBistroPetMateFix.zip
-Otmar

2

Thanks for sharing!

3

Could you help me modify my no name four meal rotating pet feeder to be arduino controlled?

This is it

it ran on 4 c batteries. It has a gear system in the bottom and it uses a encoder (is that the name of the LED sensor that tells when there is something between the two pieces?) to tell where each bowl begins and the first one has a contact switch that is broken when it approaches.

I'd also like to be able to put a button in to advance to the next bowl , but NOT reset the FEEDING time (so I can fill all the bowls at the same time if I want)

is this do-able? I can do the wiring, but I am crap with the programming, could you help?