Linux-Based Cat Feeder 420
prostoalex writes "Chris McAvoy is a UNIX administrator and an owner of two cats. So as a natural application of his work to his hobby he built this Linux-based cat feeder. A little hardware hacking and Python scripting can get you a device that would automatically disperse a yummy fish at specified intervals."
Sounds like... (Score:5, Funny)
Nice to see some tech details instead of just pretty pictures though.
Re:Sounds like... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Sounds like... (Score:4, Informative)
It's red dwarf. www.reddwarf.co.uk
Re:Sounds like... (Score:3, Funny)
-Cat
Re:Sounds like... (Score:5, Funny)
How about now? *Still* looking good!
Or even better when Cat was taking the bullhorn around the ship announcing his availability to all females aboard and requesting them to form a queue.
Good times.
Microsoft is coming out with this too... (Score:5, Funny)
The early insider-only reviews contain the following highlights:
Re:Microsoft is coming out with this too... (Score:4, Funny)
Re:Microsoft is coming out with this too... (Score:4, Funny)
Turns out that digging the basement for a new downtown building had broken into two 100+ year old fish oil tanks from 100+ year defunct fish oil company. The downtown was pretty much closed for the entire week. Nasty, nasty, nasty. It was like goatse for the nostrils...
You forgot... (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Sounds like... (Score:2)
The "yummy fish" reminded me of the part at the beginning of the World of Ruin in Final Fantasy III (Jap VI), where Celes washes up on the shore of the lonely island, and you have to catch fish to feed Cid, and your fish options are rotten fish, just a fish, fish, and yummy fish. And if he eats enough yummy fish, he lives.
Except in the rom. For whatever reason, you can't get enough yummy fish to keep him alive.
~Will
Re:Sounds like... (Score:4, Interesting)
Parts:
1 cheapo X10 device
1 used electric hand mixer
1 rubber band
1 empty round plastic food container (yogurt, pudding, etc)
string (best if with good traction; glued/tied rubber band would be best?)
"anything sticky/tacky and puttylike or rubberlike that will stay put" (henceforth referred to as "putty")
1 short dowel rod piece
Other wood (or even legos) for mounting
Plug in the X10 device and set it to code a1 (or whatever). Plug the mixer into it. Turn the mixer on low (the X10 device should be off at this point). Securely mount the mixer to the wood, with blades facing forward. Attach putty to the narrow part of the blades, with ridges of putty surrounding a thinner area (to keep a belt in position). Further up on your wood mounting, drill a hole large enough for your dowel to slide in loosely, and insert the dowel. Put putty or a nail on both sides of the dowel to stop it from sliding out of the hole. Mount your empty food container on the other end of the dowel. Cut a small hole, only large enough for one treat to pass through at a time, in the container near its lip. Near the base of the container, add "putty" in the same way you did with the mixer blades. Cut string/rubber band and make a loop between the mixer and the food container; the wider container will gear down the fast mixer. Directly above the food container, mount the container of treats with a hole cut in the bottom such that it directly skims the food container where the hole is, so that when the container is precisely aligned, a treat will fall through. Through proper gearing and possible additional placement of putty, etc, one should be able to ensure that a single treat falls through as the container spins past. If the container doesn't have enough of a slope to ensure that the treat falls out of it after entering, putty or other material can increase the slope.
Script:
#!/bin/bash
echo 1 >
sleep 1
echo 0 >
Re:Sounds like... (Score:3, Funny)
Looks like Garrick was watching a movie instead of editing
Re:Sounds like... (Score:3)
Redundant (Score:5, Funny)
What'd be more interesting is tac - which works like cat, except backwards
Fake alert!!! (Score:4, Funny)
Anyone with cats knows that this should read:
Re:Slashdotted, here's the Google Cache (Score:4, Informative)
Re:Slashdotted, here's the Google Cache (Score:3, Funny)
Cotton and Tulip have been fed 5557 times
Meow?
Hopefully it ran out of food after the first few 100 clicks!
RTF (Score:3, Informative)
he _is_ using a simple microcontroller.
The linux system is just there so that the microctonroller can be interfaced with his network, and the internet, so that one can feed the cat through a browser.
overkill perhaps, but pretty useful IMHO while you're away on a trip.
Re:WTF? (Score:3, Funny)
Not every project has to be uber-practical, especially when somebody's lookin to expand their knowledge and have a little fun.
I swear, some people here need to have their nerd license revoked.
I want chicken, I want liver... (Score:5, Funny)
Feeding time (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Feeding time (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Feeding time (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Feeding time (Score:5, Funny)
Cat feeder (Score:5, Funny)
Hell I'm suprised fluffy aint dead already.
cat food /dev/cat (Score:5, Funny)
there, i said it
Re:cat food /dev/cat (Score:5, Funny)
Now if you were a serious UNIX and hardware hacker you'd have your cat feeding system work by regsitering the food dispenser as
30 9,18 * * * cat
to your crontab.
Jedidiah.
Wrong device (Score:3, Funny)
cat <
Re:Wrong device (Score:5, Funny)
bash$ cat
cat:
If the cat has to get permission from the mouse, there are always going to be problems.
Jedidiah.
OK, so my only question is... (Score:5, Funny)
What does it feed the cats to?
Re:OK, so my only question is... (Score:5, Funny)
ALF (Score:2, Funny)
Re:ALF (Score:3, Informative)
Litter box (Score:5, Funny)
Re:Litter box (Score:2)
Re:Litter box (Score:3, Informative)
No need for cron even-- just get Litter Robot [litter-robot.com], the self-cleaning robotic litterbox! It looks futuristic...oddly like one of those pods from 2001: A Space Odyssey. But does it run linux?
Re:Litter box (Score:5, Funny)
I don't know, but as long as nobody makes a Beowulf cluster of them, I'll be happy.
Re:Litter box (Score:5, Interesting)
While it doesn't run Linux, all the work was done using tools she has for her Gentoo Linux box. The cats really like it, too - they often crowd around to watch the magic litterbox at work. This makes my life, as litterbox shoveller, a lot easier
the world needs more vets.... (Score:2, Interesting)
Re:the world needs more vets.... (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:the world needs more vets.... (Score:3, Informative)
Cats that are regularilly allowed to roam live an average of less than three years. Cats that are kept indoors live an
Re:the world needs more vets.... (Score:3, Insightful)
Just train the cat properly to know where it lives.
Re:the world needs more vets.... (Score:3, Insightful)
Re:the world needs more vets.... (Score:2)
Siccing your cat onto the native wildlife is bad, bad, bad environmental news.
Cats... (Score:2)
Overkill. (Score:3, Funny)
What are they teaching young admins in college these days, anyway?
something that feeds off cats (Score:5, Funny)
finally a solution to the feral cat problem! Open Source ROCKS!!!
and I think my dog will love it... she doesn't seem that fond of cats.
what? read the article? excuse me... I only read titles... I'm American! If you don't get the meaning in that title... that's your bad.
anyway... cat eating robots... my god what will they think up next!?
Word choice (Score:5, Insightful)
insightful? (Score:4, Funny)
from a slashdot perspective it's insightful... a lot of geeks just went... "good point... perhaps I should modify my fish dispersal plans"
Just another way.. (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Just another way.. (Score:4, Insightful)
Cat fish? (Score:5, Funny)
Bah. On my system, cat [zevils.com] and fish [zevils.com] come preinstalled.
So all I need to do for the specified interval bit is add a line to my crontab that looks something like this:
1 * * * * "cat /usr/local/bin/fish | twofish | blowfish > seuss.fish"
It could be... (Score:5, Funny)
Food in tin cans (Score:5, Funny)
$ cat "food in tin cans"
cat: cannot open food in tin cans
Of course, BSD's "cat: food in tin cans: No such file or directory" doesn't have quite the same effect.
Re:Food in tin cans (Score:2)
Re:Food in tin cans (Score:3, Funny)
Lemme put my thinking cap on.... (Score:2, Interesting)
smells good... (Score:2)
Throw in a little Slashdotting and the fish is cooked to perfection!
The cat ate the server... (Score:2)
maybe she thought it would be so much cooler if the food server handled requests properly.
Regular intervals... - sheesh! Humans just don't know how to do such a simple thing like make a cat happy!
Coral Cache Mirror (Score:3, Informative)
Dispersing (Score:5, Funny)
Over how wide an area?
Re:Dispersing (Score:2)
that cat is going to starve (Score:2, Funny)
Re:that cat is going to starve (Score:2)
Red Dwarf says cat wants many fish! (Score:5, Funny)
Cat: Fish!
M: Today's fish is trout a la creme. Enjoy your meal.
C: Fish!
M: Today's fish is trout a la creme. Enjoy your meal.
C: Fish!
M: Today's fish is trout a la creme. Enjoy your meal.
C: Fish!
M: Today's fish is trout a la creme. Enjoy your meal.
C: Fish!
M: Today's fish is trout a la creme. Enjoy your meal.
C: Fish!
M: Today's fish is trout a la creme. Enjoy your meal.
C: I will!
cats, like basement trapped boys, have little else to do than figure out how to hack the machine.
Mirrordot Mirror (Score:5, Informative)
Re:Mirrordot Mirror (Score:2)
The only advantage I see is that it requires less hardware (outside of a computer, which the computer is a lot), no buttons or programming needed to allow a user to set a clock and set the feed time(s).
What a mess... (Score:2)
Now you need a cat exerciser (Score:5, Funny)
Too bad using a laser to exercise a cat is patented [freepatentsonline.com].
Re:Now you need a cat exerciser (Score:3, Interesting)
As a kid (early to mid 80s), I noticed that one of my two cats seemed to be able to see the beams from remote controls and lasertag guns. I used to run them around in circles for hours until they'd just about collapse.
Anyhow, a plain 'ol flashlight works just fine these days. Oddly enough, only one of my two cats reacts to it at all. (shrug)
This is silly (Score:2)
What would really be useful is a version of this that dispenses dog food.
Re:This is silly (Score:2)
Honestly my cat will try and eat whatever we put in front of it, until it overeats and barfs it all up. If I tried what you suggested I'd probably come home to find all that food converted to barf and a cat still looking for more food...so for me this cat feeder is a kinda neat idea (however I have a not-so-geeky automated one already to handle this problem).
Feed his cats (Score:2, Informative)
http://kittens.lonelylion.com/index.py [lonelylion.com]
Go ahead
Peronsally, (Score:5, Funny)
You can program it to a solenoid on the front door. If someone opens the door, the robotic scooper is automatically put in "turbo" mode, rakes and shoots a sandy shit at you at 50mph. Hacking. It's just not for coffee machines anymore.
Prepositional playfulness... (Score:5, Funny)
Disappointing... (Score:2)
Cliche alert... (Score:4, Funny)
That's nothing (Score:3, Funny)
That's nothing.
My cat hacks on my computer all the time.
Should have used Mac OS X (Score:4, Funny)
Some big, ugly, noisy PC, ugh.
The small form factor makes it ideal for projects like this. And it's so quiet you can still hear your cat purring when it sits right on top of the mini.
I mean considering the solid BSD based nature of OS X and the elegant Apple aesthetic, I really think the cat would be more likely warm up to a new iFeeder rather than some generic Linux POS box.
I think iTunes integration would be pretty easy to do to. This is a serious advantage that no other OS can offer. Then kitty can be informed of cat food refresh by the playback of an appropriate song. Perhaps something by the Jingle Cats?
I'm currently working on a mod I call the iFlush which uses the mini to automate the process for toilet flushing. The great thing is how well the mini's white and silver style complement my porcelain and steel bathroom environment.
Re:Should have used Mac OS X (Score:2)
the prophetic skills of King Crimson (Score:2)
Re:the prophetic skills of King Crimson (Score:2)
"Too much time on my hands, it's ticking away with my sanity
I've got too much time on my hands, it's hard to believe such a calamity
I've got too much time on my hands and it's ticking away from me
Too much time on my hands, too much time on my hands Too much time on my hands"
This ties in to my own project. (Score:2)
Re:This ties in to my own project. (Score:3, Funny)
Getting The Standard Joke Out Of The Way... (Score:2)
I think that crazy lady who lives by the railroad tracks is gonna need a Beowulf cluster of those things...
Here all night, try the fish (if it isn't Slashdotted.)
When you first read that... (Score:2)
Link to the web interface (Score:3, Funny)
Great fish dispenser but... (Score:2)
But... (Score:3, Funny)
Wait!
Does it run Lin...
Oh, wait, never mind....
Somebody HAD to say it!
The beauty of cats is they can ration their food. (Score:3, Interesting)
Linux-based dog or fish feeder would have been more useful.
Robot Feeds Kitten (Score:3, Funny)
Too bad there's not a webcam of the pile of kitty treats in front of the server. Over 3000 treats have been dropped, but no indication of the timeframe.
I wonder if the web spiders feed the kitties...
Obligatory movie quote (Score:3, Funny)
I hacked you a delicious bass.
There is an easier way! (Score:3, Insightful)
1)Just use the parallel port. It's easy to write logic levels to it.
2)Use a usb->parallel adapter such as the DLP-245M ($25).
3)Use a PIC properly. Something like a PIC 16F84 or 16F871 will do it. A PIC + programmer will cost less than the Basic Stamp, (the PICs themselves are about $2), and really easy to program. They include many things like an ADC, PWM, Serial UART on chip, and run raw assembler.
Having seen the Stamp module, I dislike them intensely. They make the devices harder, rather than easier to use (essentially by programming a BASIC compatibility layer on top of PIC ASM), much more expensive (slower, less ports), and less functional (less internal functions available). Furthermore, the PIC Assembler is much easier than x86 or z80, or even, dare I say, Basic!
But what does it feed ... (Score:3, Funny)
OH... it provides food FOR the cats. Silly me.
When my cat gets really hungry, (Score:3, Funny)
and then spends the next 2 hours throwing up plastic-coated furrballs.
Linux has now jumped the shark (Score:3, Interesting)
Announcements about what Linux runs on, has now jumped the shark.
It runs on everything.
to truly be Linux based (Score:3, Funny)
Re:Cats (Score:5, Funny)
Re:I have the following to say: (Score:3, Funny)
When are you all going to get it straight that you do not 'own' a cat? Its impossible. because the cat will never aknowledge it.
OTOH, the cat may own you...
while (!learned) {
To a dog, you are the Master;
To a cat, you are just staff;
}
--
Cheers, Gene
Re:Dispenses fish (Score:3, Funny)