Dog Feeder

We created an automated dog food dispenser. This box is triggered by an ultrasonic distance senor that is triggered by a wave of your hand, or paw. A servo motor then will rotate a gate to release the dog food into a bowl.

Arduino Uno (1)

Breadboard (1)

330 Ohm resistors (2)

Blue LED (1)

Green LED (1)

Servo motor (1)

Ultrasonic distance sensor (1)

Rubber wires (12)

Power Source/Connection to computer

Cardboard

Hot Glue

PVC Pipe (1)

The first step to this project is to build the circuit board, correctly connecting LED's, the servo, and the distance sensor to correct G/5V and to the Arduino uno board.

Once you have the circuit board build, you must begin building the outer box to fit the board inside. Start by tracing and cutting a piece of cardboard around the base of the Arduino and breadboard. Then build three outer walls with the same width, and 5 inches tall. Leave the side revealing the motion sensor and LED's off.

Next, cut the fourth wall and trace around the distance sensor and LED's so they are revealed through the cardboard. Hot glue or tape the 4 walls and the bottom board together.

Next, poke and then cut a small hole into the right-side wall that the servo can stick out of it. Take the black box to the inside walls, and then put another piece of cardboard onto the servo arm. Tape these two pieces together. Then cut an opening on the same wall that would be covered by the cardboard gate.

Next, cut a piece of a PVC pipe to the correct length that one end is connected to the hole you cut in the previous step, and the other end is angled upward as a place to drop food in. Then cut a roof cardboard piece to fit the top, and reveal the PVC pipe.

Once the box is constructed and the walls are secure, cut a hold into the bottom of the left wall to serve as a power supply. Once the code is uploaded to the board, connect a battery block through the hole, and into the board. Wait for the board to power up and the sensor to start reading for motion. Wave your hand in front of the sensor and watch the gate move.