Ignite Portland 10: "A Homebrew Cat Feeding Robot" - Curtis C. Chen

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“A Homebrew Cat Feeding Robot” Curtis C. Chen Ignite Portland 10

description

If your household has two or more cats, you’ve probably had to deal with the problem of feeding. Maybe one cat needs to go on a diet. Maybe another cat hoovers up more than his fair share of kibble. Maybe both cats demand to get fed at oh-dark-thirty every morning, when humans would rather be sleeping. Why, cats, why? Our multi-part solution: set up an automatic feeder to dispense dry cat food on a schedule; rig a webcam to monitor feline activity; create a simple web page to view captured images; download smartphone apps for remote access. I'll describe our ongoing process of refining hardware and software, and do my best to convince you that we’re not crazy cat people. We’re just geeks who love our family. MORE INFO: http://snout.org/foodrobot

Transcript of Ignite Portland 10: "A Homebrew Cat Feeding Robot" - Curtis C. Chen

Page 1: Ignite Portland 10: "A Homebrew Cat Feeding Robot" - Curtis C. Chen

“A Homebrew Cat Feeding

Robot”Curtis C. ChenIgnite Portland 10

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Problem:

CATS.

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Jasper likes to sleep.

Tye likes to

eat.

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Solution:

ROBOT!

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http://www.flickr.com/photos/donsolo/4729336091/http://www.flickr.com/photos/jdhancock/4833395890/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/wbeem/5428551033/

@%$#!

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Hardware + Automation = ROBOT

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Aquarium feeder

Analog timer

Webcam, netbook,

lamp

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FoodCam

FoodCam

text-only web page

web page

remote access

to netbook

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FoodCam

FoodCam

FoodCam

FoodCam

FoodCam

FoodCam

FoodCam

FoodCam

FoodCam

FoodCam

FoodCam

A successfulauto-feeding

event:

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v1 v1.1 v1.2

v2.1 v2.5 v2.6

barricade bumpers2 bowls

wider ramp

trough

Forked ramp

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v2.6

November 24, 2010

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JoCo Cruise Crazy: Purrsday

v2.6 v2.6

Bowls moved out of place

Mouse toy WTF

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JoCo Cruise Crazy: Caturday

v2.7 v2.7

Ramp completely detached

Food in moat OMG

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JoCo Cruise Crazy: Meownday

v2.7 v2.7

Ramp out of alignment

SRSLY

Food in moat

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2011: Good News, Everyone!

v3.3v2.8

Feeder taped

down to island

Loudspeaker

“Spikes”

Reinforced ramp

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@%$#!

v3.3

January 20, 2012

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Food Robot FTW!!!!1!!one!

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curtis.c.chen

@sparCKL

www.SNOUT.org/ip10