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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."
I understand that the submitter is just confused between dispense and disburse, but I know for a fact that I never want a fish, yummy or otherwise, dispersed in my home.
..to get more time with your computer and ignore the only other living thing(s) in your household?
Not all of us live in houses infested with rats and mice though.
The item serves well as a caricature of most "embedded Linux" stories here. This problem could be solved with a microcontroller that costs at most couple of dimes, with a few K of code. Using Linux (with a multi-meg kernel and umpty-megahertz processor) is an absurd waste of resources for this application, and a offense to decent engineering sensbility.
Is it really a good idea to project an image of I-don't-care bloatware, Linux-uber-alles insensibility, Linux just because it's Linux despite the application?
If it was windows developer. He would have a job and wouldn't have spare time to write some stupid thing to feed his cat. I sure like to see him in his next interview. "I spent a week writing something to feed my cat". Yes I know there's devices on the market that already do it, but I'd rather waste 40 man hours then spending $90 on a prebuilt solution.
Patent #5,443,036 on the USPTO website @ http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?Sect1=PT O1&Sect2=HITOFF&d=PALL&p=1&u=/netahtml/srchnum.htm &r=1&f=G&l=50&s1=5443036.WKU.&OS=PN/5443036&RS=PN/ 5443036/ not only seems absurd, but a reading if the abstract shows how bad the patent review system has become.
"A method for inducing cats to exercise consists of directing a beam of invisible light produced by a hand-held laser apparatus onto the floor or wall or other opaque surface in the vicinity of the cat, then moving the laser so as to cause the bright pattern of light to move in an irregular way fascinating to cats, and to any other animal with a chase instinct."
So not only is a stupid idea patentable, somehow my cat is able to see "invisible light".
I'm from the government and I'm here to help (you patent some really stupid idea)
I don't understand peoples desire to needlesly complicate simple projects.
An animal food dispenser needs to run a simple script to release food at pre-programmed times. A cheap microcontroller is perfectly adequate for doing this. Heck, a 555 timer would be sufficient.
Requiring a Linux based system for this doesn't seem like much of an advantage. It's needless bloat, and complete overkill. Sometimes the simplest solution is the most elegant and reliable.
Who needs a multi-tasking operating system, complete with file system and memory managment support for something as simple as a food dispenser?
I'm pretty sure this guy could pick up an electronic animal feeder from any pet store for $50, and use his knowledge for something which is actually useful.
For something like this, why go to the trouble of using a Basic Stamp? Some easier ways:
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!
The US must be a really unfriendly place for cats. Here in the UK, I don't know a single cat owner who doesn't have a cat flap and I can't think of anyone who's lost a cat stray or to an accident. One cat I know of died recently at the age of 20, and she was stuck outside most of her life because she was too damn fat to get through the cat flap.
Just train the cat properly to know where it lives.
My basic point was that letting cats out absolutely does not lead to healthier and happier kitties. Keeping them indoors is much better for the cats. Yeah, shit happens to cats. It's my job to clean up after that shit, so I take this matter a little personally and try to inform people on some of the problems that something as apparantly innocuous as letting cats out can be.
I'll never make that mistake again, reading the experts' opinions. - Feynman