User:Kszostak2139/ENES 100/Project 3: Pet Food Controller

Week 1
During this week we switch all our work and our "bike turn signal project" over to the other group and our group got all the materials and data from that group. I started by familiarizing myself with the other groups "pet food controller" by looking at the group CDIO page and seeing where we could improve and see what has already been tried or thought of.

Next our group decided that over the weekend we would begin working on the appearance mostly. I will be reconstructing a box for the food bowl and gears because the other group ended up throwing it together very quickly.

Week 2
During this week we 3-D printed the last piece for the pet food controller that was measured out to have exactly 1/4 cup of food for cats. We have also decided that we will be focusing on building this for one cat instead of multiple ones and each animal will get their own dispenser with a personal RFID tag reader.



We also finished our new housing for the 3-D printed piece. We made each side about 7" and pieced 5 sides together and haven't made the last side yet because we are out of good materials for it and didn't have enough time to sketch a hole for the food container. Therefore, next week we will be working on finishing up the mechanical aspect of it and have all the right parts in places we like then work on the code for the RFID tag reader that will control the cover for the bowl.

Week 3
This week we worked on cutting out the hole for the servo in our new housing for the 3-D printed wheel. We also worked on tracing the hole for the Food container that Carlos provided to us. The hole for the Food Container will be about 3" in diameter and we will just be able to place the bottle in the hole but are not certain if it will be strong enough for all the food that will be inside of it.

Next week we will be trying to get all the pieces assembled and have the other side of the 3-D printed piece drilled out or come up with a better way to support it while it's rotating inside the housing.

File:Prototype 1.JPG|The 3-D printed yellow piece will move back and fourth over the food bowl. File:Other side of the housing.JPG|This is what gears have been placed in the box to make the cover move. File:Arien sawing.JPG|This is the hole for the servo to stick through that was measured to be 1.5"x3/4" 