Why
Have you got a cat ? Does it meow at 5am every mornings ? Mine does ! I love my cat, Sun, but its every morning complaining about its favorite food is a bit “overwhelming” over the time… How can Sun and I be satisfied ? I mean by sleeping for my side and by eating and then sleeping for its side ?
First, I take a look on the web in order to buy an automatic pet dispenser and I get some reach (meaning that I am not alone in this situation 😉 ) more, there is a numerous variety of products for automatic cat feeding. But I must admit that they are way too expensive and there is no one that my expectations. (Smartphone controls, open source webservices, …)
So, I decide to build my own Smart Pet Feeder based on IFTTT and littleBits for the “technical” side and with some recycled stuff I find at home; such as a Cardboard box, a Box of country pâté, a Pringles can, …
Finally, you know what ? Since I build it and it’s running automatically at 5am every day, when I wake up at around 7am I find my lovely Sun deeply sleeping ! Win/win situation 🙂
What
To build your own Smart Automatic Pet feeder you need:
– 4 Wood craft sticks
– a Cardboard box
– a Pringles can
– 2 Pringles can’s plug
– a Box of country pâté !
– Powerstrips (here on Amazon)
– Adhesive tape (here on Amazon)
– Glue, Scissors, Compass, Cutter, …
– The following electronics from littleBits: 1 USB Power, 1 Cloud Bit and 1 Servo
– A cloudBit account (it’s free!)
– An IFTTT account (it’s free too!)
How
– Build your pet feeder this way or another 🙂
– On IFTTT.com, create a new applet: If “Button Widget “Then “littleBits output level 100% for 2 seconds”
– Bonus: On IFTTT.com, create a new applet: If “Date & Time / every day at HH:MM” Then “littleBits output level 100% for 2 seconds” 😉
Feel free to share yours, ask for any improvements or questions on how to build it ! Did you try it at home ?
