In this short update, I will talk about the improved stepper driver for the pet-feeder device. While working on the sensor board, to see if the fill sensors work as expected, it also involved using the stepper motor. Here, I realised, the combination of stepper motor and driver I worked with is way too noisy…
Category: 3D Printing
MicroMaTch Connector to Breadboard in 5 Minutes
Ordering a board with perfect spaced pads to use an SMD connector takes a few days of patience unless you live near a PCB prototyping facility. With striped prototyping boards, you can stick a MircoMaTch or similar connector into your breadboard in under five minutes. 😉 First cut a small piece from the prototype board….
Pet Feeder – Position Sensor Tests
I worked on testing the sensor board. The first tests I did were about the position sensor. Recap Let me recap the design of the position sensor in the device: The turntable has five position slots, marked red in the following illustration. Behind this slots, there is a small excavation, reflecting the light from the…
Pet Feeder Update
A short update about the progress with the sensor panel and photos of the final input panel board. I assembled the new boards and are testing the sensors. As soon as all tests are done, and I am happy with the results and the board’s design, I will write the next part. These are 940nm…
19″ Rack Fan Controller [1/2]
When I migrated several servers into a new server rack, I put my Arduino Uno based fan controller into a new enclosure. Not a great solution, but good recycling of this existing project and way better than the built-in, on/off temperature controller. Now, when the rack’s space got low, I had to find a better…
Decorative, Massive, Modular Box
This design is not for everyone. 😅 A decorative and modular, but quite massive box. Built from 3d-printed parts, 5mm plywood panels and plenty 3x10mm wood screws. The instructions in this post show a basic box with the inner dimensions 240×360×84mm, but in the download, you find all files required to build larger boxes in…
Let’s Print a Cat/Pet Feeding Device (Part 6)
The sixth part of this series is all about the input panel. We will talk about the layout of the front panel, the rotary encoder as the main component and I will explain my example circuit and board. As usual, you will find all required files as a free download from the GIT repository. If…
How to Create a Prototype Connector from a Pin Header
In order to test the input panel, I had to connect the 14 lines to the test setup on a breadboard. Just using a pin header was too flimsy for me, because I often reuse these test connectors on different breadboards. In this short article, I explain how I made it into a solid connector….
Let’s Print a Cat/Pet Feeding Device (Part 5)
In the fifth part of this series, we print the turntable and talk about the back panel of the enclosure. If you missed one of the previous parts, visit the overview page to access them. The Files You will find all required files for the prints in the GitHub repository: About the Turntable Before we…
Let’s Print a Cat/Pet Feeding Device (Part 4)
This is the fourth part of the series. In this part we insert the insets in the previously printed parts, print the lids and talk about the front panel. If you missed one of the previous parts, visit the overview page to access them. The Files You will find all required files for the prints…