tl;dr: my cat was getting lazy, and was developing health issues, so i wanted to make something to trick him into exercising more. I did this by attaching a treat dispenser to a cat wheel, and giving him treats when hes ran certain distances.
This was my entry for the printables smart pet gadget contest. https://www.printables.com/model/1278945-smart-cat-treat-dispenser-for-one-fast-cat-wheel
There were a few back-to-back all nighters right at the end in order to get this submitted in time (managed to submit 7 minutes before the deadline!) - so the code is all kind of lumped in one file. Ill clean the code up in the upcoming weeks, but the short bullet point list of features are:
- Almost entirely 3D printed (other than a motor, 4 bearings, some sensors, and the nuts and bolts
- Detects that the treat level is low before completely running out! no more sad cats that hear the food dispenser going off, only to be left with an empty belly!
- Self hosted wifi configuration page (connect to the AP, go to 192.168.4.1, enter your wifi settings, and it will join your wifi network
- Completely self hosted web UI / API - configure all your settings, vend treats remotely from other smart devices, and track your cats stats!
- MQTT support - connect your treat dispenser to a platform like homeassistant to see graphs of your cats activity and be alerted to when the treat dispenser is almost out of treats.
- simple electronics (no analog components other than resistors for some LED's)
- cool design features like internal wire channels so theres minimal exposed wiring (other than power, and a single connector to connect a hall effect sensor to the treat dispenser for detecting cat wheel rotation)
9 Comments
technomad@slrpnk.net · 5 pts · 1y
Hey, you should enter this on the hackaday contest too: https://hackaday.io/contest/202866-2025-pet-hacks-challenge
Cool project!
motsu@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 1y
oh thanks for the heads up!
technomad@slrpnk.net · 1 pts · 1y
Hell yeah, good luck!
astrsk@fedia.io · 2 pts · 1y
Great project! Especially like the non-invasive pet tracking this affords.
I feel like a smaller, electromechanical version of this could also work well for people who might not need the IoT integration, it could be a nice expansion product on its own with just relays and a power circuit / classical logic circuits.
motsu@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 1y
Yeah, or even something in the middle where you still use a cheap microcontroller and the hall effect sensor to track distance without any treats. You would have to find a way to get the cat running in the first place though.
It seems like people have better luck getting the larger semi-domesticated savannah cats / similar to use the wheel than domestic house cats without training
xzot746@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 1y
Cool project, just asking for a friend but think you can make a human version..
Seriously cool project.
motsu@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 1y
I wanted to make a human sized wheel to bring to opensauce that dispenses candy thats the equivalent to the calories you burned, or possibly had motors acting as a generator that powered up a power bank for people to charge their phones from!
Thanks for the feedback though, and glad you liked it :)
astrsk@fedia.io · 2 pts · 1y
What about one of those “under desk treadmills”?
motsu@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 1y
He does little bursts of running with periods of walking in between, so I dont think it would work. Perhaps with other cats it would though