catPi
Background
Back when my wife and I had two cats to feed, it was sometimes hard to keep up with consistent meals. Between hectic work schedules and out-of-town trips, the idea of a remote cat feeder became extremely appealing.
However, with off-the-shelf options out of the budget, I employed a bit of Google-Fu and came across an awesome project by David Bryan. Using some servos and a repurposed cereal dispenser, he had built his own Raspberry Pi-powered cat feeder!
Using David's project as inspiration, I whipped together a few Python scripts, added a custom enclosure, a Pi Camera module, and the ability to operate the feeder remotely using a Dropbox "schedule" file.
The resulting product, affectionately known as "Jeeves" around the house, was used almost daily for a number of years. However, as life and circumstances have changed we've gone without an automated feeder since we moved back to Milwaukee.
2022 Update: I have plans to revisit this project with a v2, and spent most of Christmas break in 2021 proof of concepting a Homekit-compatible version. Now I just need to find the time to finish it!
Objectives
- Learn how to wire a servo
- Learn how to utilize Dropbox SDK
- Create a cat-proof feeder design
- Learn how to use the Pi Camera