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Linux-Based Cat Feeder
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."
Someone has been watching too much Back to the Future.
Nice to see some tech details instead of just pretty pictures though.
Linux, Linux, please deliver~
I thought that feeding time was the only time that most cats paid any attention to you. Why on earth anyone would want to take that away I will never know.
moo.
I'd ask if this was completely nessicary, but knowing the forgetful habbits of nerds...
Hell I'm suprised fluffy aint dead already.
there, i said it
What does it feed the cats to?
Don't think of it as a flame---it's more like an argument that does 3d6 fire damage
So can you also set up a cron job to clean the litter box?
It's OK! I'm a limo driver!
What are they teaching young admins in college these days, anyway?
and it runs linux!!!
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!?
-pyrrho
Bah. On my system, cat and fish 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"
the closest a linux geek ever gets to pussy.
This reminds me of the old UNIX joke:
$ 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.
a device that would automatically disperse a yummy fish
Over how wide an area?
if the server hosting his site is the same server feeding the cat, a new cat may be needed in a couple days
I don't want to start a holy war here, but what is the deal with you cat fanatics? I've been sitting here on my sofa in front of a cat (a sealpoint siamese) for about 20 minutes now while attempting to get it's attention away from a bug on the floor. 20 minutes. At home, with my labrador cross, which by all standards should be a lot dumber than this cat, the same operation would take about 2 minutes. If that.
In addition, during this attention seeking attempt, my children's attention is also held by the cat. And everything else has ground to a halt. Even trying to get the remote from my partner fails.
I won't bore you with the laundry list of other problems that I've encountered while dealing with other cats, but suffice it to say there have been many, not the least of which is I've never seen a cat that fetches as much as it's canine counterpart, despite the cat's faster ambulatory system. My terrier with one ingrown toenail runs consistently faster than this siamese at times, as the cat is often completely asleep. From a productivity standpoint, I don't get how people can claim that the cat is a superior animal.
Cat addicts, flame me if you'd like, but I'd rather hear some intelligent reasons why anyone would choose to use a cat over other faster, cheaper, more affectionate animals.
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.
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
Can't have the cat eating and not exercising, that wouldn't be too healthy.
:)
Too bad using a laser to exercise a cat is patented.
Just because it CAN be done, doesn't mean it should!
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.
- Just my $0.02, take with a grain of salt, your mileage may vary.
The early insider-only reviews contain the following highlights:
doesn't he feed on cats?
I thought it was funny.
from a slashdot perspective it's insightful... a lot of geeks just went... "good point... perhaps I should modify my fish dispersal plans"
-pyrrho
Wow...imagine a feral pack of those!
AT&ROFLMAO
Man hacks computer to feed cat.
That's nothing.
My cat hacks on my computer all the time.
94% of Repubs and 21% of Dems voted to renew the Patriot Act
Given the low cost of the mini, is there really any excuse to do this on a Linux box?
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.
Sometimes my arms bend back.
cat food > /dev/cat
/dev/cat, have the raw byte instruction sequence required to make the dispenser operate stored in a file /food, and then, indeed, you simply add
/food > /dev/cat
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.
Craft Beer Programming T-shirts
... Encoding in the 70Kg food cartridge will automatically expire in 60 days - necessitating the purchase of additional Tasty-Gates(tm) cat food.
Cloned foods give the statement "We had that last week!" a whole new meaning.
From the web interface to the feeder at http://kittens.lonelylion.com/index.py, the cats seem to be getting around 2 fish treats per second right now. That's two happy kitties, unless they're caught in the dispenser's paddles, of course.
Since it's coming up to the end of another academic year I thought I'd take this opportunity to explain how lucky you Americans are to have a fraternity system.
;-)
English Universities are so dull by comparison. Like most students in England I had to rent private accommodation for my second and third years, but it never occurred to us to build a whole culture around collectively renting a rather dilapidated house in Clapham. It wasn't even single sex accommodation, so we couldn't engage in the fun and games of para-homosexual activities - Girls just don't have the same grip on your loyalties as your Greek brothers.
And while cliques certainly form in English Universities, the are all much too boring to come up with the idea of hazing. I fondly recall diving off a weir and almost drowning when I was 12 because everyone said I was chicken. If only it had been possible for me to gain respect in later life through similar tests, and if these tests could have been combined with pseudo Masonic rituals culminating in the awarding of a little badge, then that truly would have made my time at University worthwhile. And while I still have friends from University, these friendships seem so hollow compared to bonds of fraternal brotherhood since they are not based on solemn vows of fellowship, mutual sacrifice, group solidarity and owning the same poxy little badge.
Then there's sheer joy alcohol seems to bring fraternity members. By the time I went to university the delights of getting dangerously drunk at parties had started to seem mundane. But to American students in fraternities, the bravado of excessive alcohol consumption is a an exciting new and illicit game where you can prove yourself worthy to all your male friends and simultaneously circumvent college alcohol policy - thereby proving what a rebel you are too. Gosh.
I am also rather fond of the references to ancient Greece. It reeks of a history far nobler and grander than anything a British University can instill its students with, and the wearing of togas must make it seem as authentic as a ploughman's lunch.
I think what I am trying to say is that Fraternities give young Americans the chance to grow up in their own time, and that it is regrettable that no similar opportunity is afforded to European Students. In particular, I find it sad that even some American students forego the opportunity to wear togas and claim to be Greek. Really this should be mandatory, so every graduate will be secure in the knowledge that they have gained something much more valuable than a degree from an American University - a little badge with some Greek letters on it.
Although I am not American, I admire the system so much that I would dearly love to become an honorary member of a fraternity. I have set my heart on becoming an alumnus of Theta Omicron Sigma Sigma Epsilon Ro Sigma. I do so hope this is possible.
Wait!
Does it run Lin...
Oh, wait, never mind....
Somebody HAD to say it!
LongTail SSH Brute Force analysis tool is here!
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...
And to automatically dispose of the deceased felines, you could automate a catapult. You probably couldn't patent it though, since I believe the French use of the device to dispose of cats in Monty Python and the Holy Grail constitutes prior art.
Dear Kitty,
I hacked you a delicious bass.
C'mon, baby, kiss The King.
Fuck you, I'm a retard and I find the comparison to Windows progammers offensive!
... the cats to?
OH... it provides food FOR the cats. Silly me.
cat already accepts stdin on Unix.
;^).
What'd be more interesting is tac - which works like cat, except backwards
and then spends the next 2 hours throwing up plastic-coated furrballs.
Free Software: Like love, it grows best when given away.
In Version 2.0, the core team comes along and performs the following optimizations:
/dev/cat to /dev/catfeeder. /dev/cat pointing to the cat itself. Reading /dev/cat blocks until the cat is hungry. /dev/catfoodbin. Reading /dev/catfoodbin returns the number of feedings left in it.
1. rename
2. add
3. add a device for
4. add crontab entry corrected to take advantage of these capabilities.
Then the source forks when a Microsoft astroturfing campaign tries to add DRM to the cat food (see that other Funny post)
Enhanced to extinction. There ya go.
[Error 407: No signature found]
You got it all wrong. The proper way would be
/dev/mouse
cat <
you should rethink your position as a cat owner
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
it would have to dispense herring.
Steve's Computer Service, Hobbs, NM
Damn it, has everyone forgotten the old jokes?
cat "food in cans"
Unfortunately, it does not give the funny answer ("...cannot open...") on a lot of platforms these days.
"I don't understand peoples desire to needlesly complicate simple projects."
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.
"Derp de derp."
Cotton and Tulip have been fed 5557 times
Meow?
Hopefully it ran out of food after the first few 100 clicks!
M0571y H@rml355.
Anyone with cats knows that this should read:
You need the gown, towel, satchel, and junk mail extension for that.
Why is it that the proponents of "one nation under God" are so eager to get rid of "liberty and justice for all"?