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Linux-Based Cat Feeder

Posted by timothy on from the happy-valentine's-day dept.

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."

47 of 420 comments (clear)

  1. Sounds like... by nuclear305 · · Score: 4, Funny

    Someone has been watching too much Back to the Future.

    Nice to see some tech details instead of just pretty pictures though.

    1. Re:Sounds like... by Asgard · · Score: 5, Funny
      Or from another TV series:


      Dispensing Machine: Today's fish is trout a la creme. Enjoy your meal.
      Cat: Fish!
      Dispensing Machine: Today's fish is trout a la creme. Enjoy your meal.
      Cat: Fish!
      [...]


    2. Re:Sounds like... by Rei · · Score: 3, Interesting

      The thing is, 75$ just for the board... and then all of the other parts? Geez... I'm cheap; here's what I'd try:

      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 > /dev/x10/a1
      sleep 1
      echo 0 > /dev/x10/a1

      --
      "That's Nietzsche. He killed my father." -- Jesus, "Jesus Christ Supercop"
    3. Re:Sounds like... by AsbestosRush · · Score: 4, Funny

      How am I looking now? Still looking good!

      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.

      --
      EveryDNS. Use it. It works.
      AC's need not reply
    4. Re:Sounds like... by rob_squared · · Score: 4, Informative

      Don't be ashamed to say it:
      It's red dwarf. www.reddwarf.co.uk

      --
      I don't get it.
    5. Re:Sounds like... by edlinger · · Score: 3, Funny

      "I'm so excited all six of my nipples are tingling!"
      -Cat

  2. I want chicken, I want liver... by ShatteredX · · Score: 5, Funny

    Linux, Linux, please deliver~

  3. Feeding time by mesach · · Score: 5, Funny

    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.
    1. Re:Feeding time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      I got the BSD version. My cat started acting weird so I took it to the vet. He said it's dying...

    2. Re:Feeding time by lrucker · · Score: 5, Funny

      There's also book-reading time. I suspect the real reason ebooks didn't take off was that it's harder to hold an ebook in a position where the cat doesn't block it.

    3. Re:Feeding time by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

      Petcraft confirms it.

  4. Cat feeder by cyberfunk2 · · Score: 4, Funny

    I'd ask if this was completely nessicary, but knowing the forgetful habbits of nerds...

    Hell I'm suprised fluffy aint dead already.

  5. cat food /dev/cat by delire · · Score: 5, Funny


    there, i said it

  6. OK, so my only question is... by oGMo · · Score: 5, Funny

    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

    1. Re:OK, so my only question is... by AndroidCat · · Score: 5, Funny

      The bit at the top said something about a python! (The FA is /.'ed and there's a brandwidth seller's ad right under that. Hmm.)

      --
      One line blog. I hear that they're called Twitters now.
  7. Litter box by lsmeg · · Score: 5, Funny

    So can you also set up a cron job to clean the litter box?

    --
    It's OK! I'm a limo driver!
    1. Re:Litter box by ari_j · · Score: 4, Funny

      self-cleaning robotic litterbox ... does it run linux?

      I don't know, but as long as nobody makes a Beowulf cluster of them, I'll be happy.

    2. Re:Litter box by MsWillow · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Actually, we recently bought a (used) litterbox that cleans itself. Found out why they got rid of it - the electronics were fried (something about a +5v regulator, sans heatsink, that croaked). Anyways, Vikki mapped out all the connections, replaced the regulator and a handful of semiconductors, then wrote code for a PIC. She also designed and etched the circuit board, and put it all together. It now works great!

      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 :)

      --

      Lemon curry?
  8. something that feeds off cats by pyrrho · · Score: 5, Funny

    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

  9. Word choice by ari_j · · Score: 4, Insightful

    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.

  10. Just another way.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    ..to get more time with your computer and ignore the only other living thing(s) in your household?

    1. Re:Just another way.. by Kozar_The_Malignant · · Score: 3, Insightful

      The quickest way to find a cat in my house is to sit down at the computer. Within 30 seconds there will be a cat on the keyboard.

      --
      Some mornings it's hardly worth chewing through the restraints to get out of bed.
  11. Cat fish? by Tackhead · · Score: 4, Funny
    > A little hardware hacking and Python scripting can get you a device that would automatically disperse a yummy fish at specified intervals

    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"

  12. It could be... by angedinoir · · Score: 5, Funny

    the closest a linux geek ever gets to pussy.

  13. Food in tin cans by saddino · · Score: 5, Funny

    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.

  14. Re:Slashdotted, here's the Google Cache by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Informative

    Linkified: http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:FiCMnb9IkuUJ:ww w.linuxjournal.com/article/7403+www.linuxjournal.c om/article/7403+How+I+Feed+My+Cats++with+Linux+%7C +Linux+Journal&hl=en

  15. Coral Cache Mirror by jong99 · · Score: 3, Informative

    http://www.linuxjournal.com.nyud.net:8090/article/ 7403

  16. Dispersing by pbalzac · · Score: 5, Funny

    a device that would automatically disperse a yummy fish

    Over how wide an area?

  17. Red Dwarf says cat wants many fish! by fermion · · Score: 5, Funny
    Machine: Hello. How can I help you?
    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
  18. Mirrordot Mirror by superatrain · · Score: 5, Informative

    Mirrordot mirror

    --
    my karma ran over your dogma
  19. Now you need a cat exerciser by Frank+T.+Lofaro+Jr. · · Score: 4, Funny

    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!
  20. Peronsally, by robyannetta · · Score: 5, Funny
    Personally, I'd like to see one of those robotic self-cleaning litter boxes hacked with their own version of linux. Think of the possibilities!

    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.
  21. Microsoft is coming out with this too... by PHPgawd · · Score: 5, Funny
    In order to stay current with all Linux features, Microsoft Feed (tm) will be bundled with the next major release of Windows.

    The early insider-only reviews contain the following highlights:

    • The feeder dispenses 70kg of food at a time no matter what size cat you have.
    • Users of the feeder must use Microsoft CatChow (tm) or an authorized, licensed, compatible cat food (MS-ALCCF). Non-Microsoft licensed cat foods "may" cause your cat to crash.
    • The feeder contains hidden, Microsoft-only APIs to connect to Microsoft LitterBox (tm) and Microsoft ScratchingPost (tm). These products will be available early next year.
    • To show Microsoft's committment to open standards, any kind of water may be used with the Feeder product, although Microsoft may "extend" the Water Standard anytime in the future in incompatible ways.
    1. Re:Microsoft is coming out with this too... by museumpeace · · Score: 3, Funny

      hard to type and giggle at the same time but I gotta add that I would have been more worried about a DOS attack on the fish server. or If someone hacks the cron job and the system has piled up 40 lbs of formerly fresh mackerel on the kitchen floor by the time you get back from a summer weekend at the beach...eyuuch!

      --
      SLASHDOT: news for people who can't concentrate on work or have no life at all and got tired of yelling back at the TV.
    2. Re:Microsoft is coming out with this too... by Brandybuck · · Score: 4, Funny

      Years ago I got up in the morning and started my commute to work. As I got into the car I detected a faint fishy smell. Twenty miles from work it was a bit stronger. Then miles and I knew something was up. Was it some weird weather that wafted the scent of rotting whales in from the coast two hundred miles distant? Five miles from work and my eyes started to water, as I catch an aroma like there's a fish sauce convention nearby. I finally get to work and notice the hazmat teams in the downtown district of the city where I worked.

      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...

      --
      Don't blame me, I didn't vote for either of them!
  22. Prepositional playfulness... by Colz+Grigor · · Score: 5, Funny
    I've heard of feeding cats to pythons, but this is definitely the first time I've read about feeding cats with Python!

    ::Colz Grigor

  23. insightful? by pyrrho · · Score: 4, Funny

    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

  24. Re:Cats by PitaBred · · Score: 4, Funny

    Cheaper? My cat brings home half her food. And has the sense to not eat her own shit.

    --
    My blog. Good stuff (when I remember to update it). Read it.
  25. Cliche alert... by Linker3000 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Wow...imagine a feral pack of those!

    --
    AT&ROFLMAO
  26. Should have used Mac OS X by snuf23 · · Score: 3, Funny

    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.
  27. Re:cat food /dev/cat by Coryoth · · Score: 4, Funny

    cat 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 /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

    30 9,18 * * * cat /food > /dev/cat

    to your crontab.

    Jedidiah.

    --
    Craft Beer Programming T-shirts
  28. You forgot... by NoseBag · · Score: 4, Funny

    ... 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.
  29. Redundant by Nailer · · Score: 4, Funny

    cat already accepts stdin on Unix.

    What'd be more interesting is tac - which works like cat, except backwards ;^).

  30. Wrong device by ingo23 · · Score: 3, Funny

    You got it all wrong. The proper way would be

    cat < /dev/mouse

    1. Re:Wrong device by Coryoth · · Score: 4, Funny

      I tried that, but apparently I have Speedy Gonzales attached to my machine and the cat is struggling:

      bash$ cat /dev/mouse

      cat: /dev/mouse: permission denied

      If the cat has to get permission from the mouse, there are always going to be problems.

      Jedidiah.

      --
      Craft Beer Programming T-shirts
  31. Re:Slashdotted, here's the Google Cache by BLAG-blast · · Score: 3, Funny
    It's worse than a slashdotting, I won't provide the direct link to the automated cat feeder control page, but I don't think Cotton and Tulip are hungry just now:

    Cotton and Tulip have been fed 5557 times

    Meow?

    Hopefully it ran out of food after the first few 100 clicks!

    --
    M0571y H@rml355.
  32. Fake alert!!! by Gaardenzwerch · · Score: 4, Funny
    This is obviously a spoof!
    UNIX administrator and an owner of two cats

    Anyone with cats knows that this should read:
    UNIX administrator and owned by two cats