RF ID Pet Feeder

Background:

Many People have pets. All pets have to be fed, and the owners cannot always be home to feed the pets when the pets need to be fed. This can result in over feeding and underfeeding of pets. A solution would be an automatic feeder that would not need to be refilled every few days.

Problem Statement:

The problem is the lack of time people have to devote to their pets; this is especially true with people who don't have a fixed day to day schedule. This is the same problem that people have when they have to leave their pet when they go on vacation. Granted there are automatic pet feeders on the market today, but those are just timed door openings on small, multiple feed bowls that will feed for one or two days. What happens if an owner has two pets where one pet will eat all the available food and the other will get none?

Team Members:

Phillip Lux luxpa@email.uc.edu
Chris Wittman wittmacw@ucmail.uc.edu
Ryan Naufel naufelrm@email.uc.edu

email all team members

Faculty Advisor:

Professor Altan Ferendeci

Goal:

This project is to create a device to automatically feed a pet when it needs to be fed by letting the pet decide when it is time to eat, however it will limit how often the pet can eat. First attach an RF ID tag to the pet's collar. Second, fill up the food dispenser. Third, set how much and how often the pet is to eat. Then refill the food dispenser as needed. The dispenser will respond to the presence of an RF tag and fill the bowl to the appropriate level. The dispenser will also be able to detect different ID tags and dispense different amounts accordingly. This is perfect for the owner who has a fat cat on a diet and a thin cat that could use some extra food.

Subgoals:

  1. Design and build a motorized food dispenser.

  2. Design and build the digital circuit for the dispenser.

  3. Obtain and integrate an RF receiver and Transmitter.

Helpful Skills:

  • Experience with material feeders.

  • Experience with digital circuit design.

  • Experience with RF communication.