Design Process for the Autonomous Trickle Feeder

Pre-Lab Preparation

To start our project we need to work out how we are going to create our project, this requires a design of the prototype as well as the circuit, code and what components we will need.

Starting with the components;

  • 'Arduino Uno Rev 4 WIFI' - we decided on this specific Arduino as it has built in timers, this means that our time intervals will be precise and reliable. It can also be connected to Wifi and be controlled remotely by an app if we wanted to be able to remotely adapt the timings of the motor. 
  • Parallax Inc 4 Motor - rotates the lid to allow the animal to access the food, this motor has built in thermal protector that will break the circuit if the motor overheats, a brilliant safety precaution around animals.
  • Kingsbright 5V Red LEDs - we wanted to incorporate an LED into our circuit so that the user can see when the motor is in motion. 
  • RS Pro Buzzer - this component is a bit of trial and error. We wanted to include something that would alert the animal into the feeder opening, a similar concept to Pavlov's dog; buzzer makes a sound = food! However due to the animals that would be using the trickle feeder would most likely be flight animals, therefore the buzzer may spook them. Therefore the buzzer will have to be tested in the lab to see how loud it is.
  •  Seeit ESP32-DEV-30P Bluetooth - allows for wifi and bluetooth connection, meaning that the Arduino can be controlled remotely via an app 
Next we will begin our in-lab development...

2P47 :) 






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