Thurber Feeder 5000
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- Опубликовано: 10 сен 2024
- The Thurber Feeder 5000 is a slow feeder like no other. Our dog is insane about food, so I built this thing to deliver his food slowly enough that he's forced to take his time eating it, instead of his usual inhalation followed by choking.
It's really just a stepper motor, pushing food through an auger, controlled by a Parallax Propeller. I CNC'd the body on my home-built CNC machine, programmed the chip to run the food cycle and make the lights glow, and narrated the video to complete this totally overblown (albeit effective) solution to our problem.
Dry food is poured in from the top, and a stepper-driven auger from a chocolate fountain slowly pushes it forward, a 16th of a turn at a time, trickling the food into his bowl so he can't eat faster than we want him to. The lights glow while the feeding cycle runs, and go out when it's done. A cycle can be interrupted or restarted by simply pressing the button. The stepper goes through a 6:1 belt pulley setup, giving it a whopping 200 oz-in of torque, so it has no problem chopping through food.
It's been so effective, he actually eats slower even when we don't use it, which was a very unexpected (but very welcome) side effect.
Follow me and my random projects on RUclips and Facebook - / jasondorie
Nice work, Jason! I've been working on a design for a remote control treat dispenser for dog agility training, and settled on an auger feed. I had no idea where to find an auger/tube, and a google search landed me here. Thanks for the inspiration (and the link)! What a great build!
Background music and narration is cool like in 1950s
It's the Thurber Feeder 5000 - A custom built, home CNC'd / 3D printed robotic dog feeder.
Our dog (Thurber) eats so fast he's constantly getting food stuck in his throat and choking. It terrifies my girlfriend, so I built a thing to deliver his usual amount of food at a trickling pace, forcing him to slow down. It's been so effective, he actually eats slower even when we *don't* use it, which was an unanticipated (but very welcome) side effect.
Tech specs:
- Parallax Propeller microcontroller to run the priming / feeding cycles
- CNC'd polycarbonate enclosure (home built CNC machine)
- 3D printed part interfaces between the pulley and the chocolate fountain auger
- 44 oz-in stepper, with a 6:1 belt reduction
- LED's - GLOWING, PULSING, LED's!
- Feeding and priming cycles can be interrupted or restarted, all with a 1-button interface
- Also, it actually does feed the dog
His whole name is Thurber James Michener, and he even has his own Facebook page. :)
Nice! You should make it open source! Would love to build one.
Yes, make it open source!
May i ask if you have any problems with the auger getting stuck? I'm making a pet feeder too but i am using an auger that is actually meant to reduce water gurgling noises for rainpipes or aquarium overflow pipes. So now I'm not sure if i should be getting a more close fitting auger for my 50mm pipes, or getting a motor with higher torque, or both. What motor are you using by the way?
how can i buy one??? NEED IT ASAP lol
Nice Job. Maybe a sensor at the bowl so that it will only feed when the dog is present. ;-)
That's not really necessary - He sits in front of the machine until the well after the feeding cycle is done, unless we're eating dinner, in which case he alternates between that and begging. :)
Dwl yo this is funnh i like it
Where can i buy these?
lol... ! great project !
How do you deal with food jamming?
Your Thurber Feeder 5000 looks and works great. I would like
to make similar feeder for my dog.
Could you please tell me what is auger diameter and length
of auger tube?
Thank you!
+jason taa - I bought the auger and tube from here: www.sephra.com/accessories-parts.html
I believe I'm using the CF16 version.
where can I find the screw feeder?
just wait until the dog can press the button!
Hi Jason. Excellent Job. I would like to build one similar of yours. However, how does it possible to includes in the arduino a sort of timer programmed to dispense certain amount food in cups for example? Thanks.
The motor is a stepper motor, so it turns an exact amount, controlled by the microcontroller (mine is a Propeller, yours would be an Arduino). I just measured how much food comes out when I do one complete turn of the auger, and made the number of turns I needed to get the right amount. We also don't leave food in the machine - we only put in the amount for one feeding, so if it turns a little extra there's no problem.
Hey buddy I know this was made a long time ago but I have a couple questions. It would be great if you could answer. I’m a wheelchair user training my own assistance dog… would be awesome if I could make something similar to use during training. Let me know if you’re interested in helping out cheeeeeers
Hi! Thanks for this video, it's given me some great ideas. I have a couple questions if you don't mind:
What are you using to attach the belt to the auger? Is that a custom part, or were you able to find a pulley that fit the auger?
Do you have any issues with the auger jamming on kibble where is enters the auger?
Seth Ratner - the pulley itself is a standard part, but I 3D printed a connector to mate the two pieces. As for food getting stuck, no I have no problems. The motor I chose is strong enough to break the food. I had used a weaker motor originally and it would get stuck, so I upgraded to this one. That's also why I use gear reduction.
Thanks for the reply. I'm a bit in over my head on this one! Any chance you could point me to where you got the pulley setup? I'm probably going to use the same auger you're using, since it's almost impossible to find affordable augers (chocolate fountain, genius!). The alternative is this cereal dispenser, which has the benefit of flexible rubber flaps on the hopper, which prevents jams. Unfortunately, it does not allow for much in the way of precision dispensing. smile.amazon.com/COBBLE-CREEK-Cereal-Food-Dispnser/dp/B00TECVEQE
It's been a while, so I don't recall the exact setup, but the pulleys are from these guys, and most likely the MXL type: sdp-si.com/products/timing-belts/imxl.php GT2 belts & pulleys would also work fine, and are commonly available 3D printer parts, so you might be able to find them cheaper. I chose a pair of pulleys that give me a 6:1 gear reduction.
Hey Jason, thanks for the info. Do you have any better views on the 3d parts you printed to mate the large pulley to the auger? I'm having some difficultly coming up with a design. I see you have a plate that both the auger and motor bolt to, but what type of shaft are you using to go from the pulley, through the plate, and into the shaft?
Thanks!
Hey Seth - If you contact me through JasonDorie at gmail I can send you the STL files and source model if you can use them. There's no shaft, per se - it's part of the plate, and is a single custom piece.
Where did you get the auger?
John Ang - It’s a part for a chocolate fountain. A Google search of that term will find it - about $20
I think this, a wildlife camera, and a "cat shelter" would make for a great system for stray cats (keep them in an area, to allow for vaccination + sterilization, and monitoring)
Plotting this for a pile of strays around my work.
it's very beautifulllllllll!!!a great ideas! i'm working on my pet feeder very similar but i have problem with arduino code. can you help me?
My code isn't written for Arduino, so it's unlikely it would be of any use to you.
I can probably help you
Hahahaha this is amazing!