Project :: ECE 445 - Senior Design Laboratory

#	Title	Team Members	TA	Documents	Sponsor
62	Automated Multi-Cat Feeder	Lingxiang Cai Omolola Okesanjo Qingyuan Liu	Nithin Balaji Shanthini Praveena Purushothaman	design_document2.pdf final_paper1.pdf photo1.PNG photo2.PNG photo3.PNG presentation1.pdf proposal2.pdf
	ECE 445 (SENIOR DESIGN PROJECT) REQUEST FOR APPROVAL Team Members: Omolola okesanjo (omolola2) Lingxiang Cai (lcai15) Qingyuan Liu (ql21) PROBLEM A cat feeder. Lots of pet owners (cat owners especially) have different cats at home, moreso different breeds. When these owners are not home or are away, feeding them becomes difficult especially with different diets and different nutritional needs. There needs to be a way to measure nutritional needs of different pets and feed them according to those needs, where the owner is at home or not. SOLUTION To solve this problem, we want to build an automated cat feeder system with an identification system for the different cats/pets. This system dispenses food for each cat according to their planned diet and nutritional needs. We incorporate a feeder system to dispense food, an RFID system to identify each cat before dispensing and a timer that works with the feeder system. SOLUTION COMPONENTS FEEDER SYSTEM This is a mechanical system that is integrated with the RFID and timer system. After identifying which cat needs food and based on the timing needs of the cat diet, the motor dispenses the right food mixture and the right quatity into the bowl for the cat to eat. The circuit is going to be integrated with the RFID on a microcontroller on a PCB. RFID SYSTEM When a cat comes to the system for food, the RFID system is used to read data (based on a chip on the cat) to see which breed, types of food the cat needs, quantity, etc. TIMER/CLOCK This is to set a regular time to determine when the dispenser should dispense food because we don't want our cat over eating under under-eating. CRITERION FOR SUCCESS High-Level Goals: The RFID system can successfully identify different cats and determine what to feed them based on pre-recorded data (good measure would be 2 or 3 cats.) The timer works according to the instruction based on each cat. The dispenser is able to dispense food. The dispenser can mix the right food for each cat. The PCB works correctly. All systems are able to be integrated together.

Featured Project

# Electronic Mouse (Cat Toy)

# Team Members:

- Yingyu Zhang (yzhan290)

- Chuangy Zhang (czhan30)

- Jack (John) Casey (jpcasey2)

# Problem Components:

Keeping up with the high energy drive of some cats can often be overwhelming for owners who often choose these pets because of their low maintenance compared to other animals. There is an increasing number of cats being used for service and emotional support animals, and with this, there is a need for an interactive cat toy with greater accessibility.

1. Get cats the enrichment they need

1. Get cats to chase the “mouse” around

1. Get cats fascinated by the “mouse”

1. Keep cats busy

1. Fulfill the need for cats’ hunting behaviors

1. Interactive fun between the cat and cat owner

1. Solve the shortcomings of electronic-remote-control-mouses that are out in the market

## Comparison with existing products

- Hexbug Mouse Robotic Cat Toy: Battery endurance is very low; For hard floors only

- GiGwi Interactive Cat Toy Mouse: Does not work on the carpet; Not sensitive to cat touch; Battery endurance is very low; Can't control remotely

# Solution

A remote-controlled cat toy is a solution that allows more cat owners to get interactive playtime with their pets. With our design, there will be no need to get low to the ground to adjust it often as it will go over most floor surfaces and in any direction with help from a strong motor and servos that won’t break from wall or cat impact. To prevent damage to household objects it will have IR sensors and accelerometers for use in self-driving modes. The toy will be run and powered by a Bluetooth microcontroller and a strong rechargeable battery to ensure playtime for hours.

## Subsystem 1 - Infrared(IR) Sensors & Accelerometer sensor

- IR sensors work with radar technology and they both emit and receive Infrared radiation. This kind of sensor has been used widely to detect nearby objects. We will use the IR sensors to detect if the mouse is surrounded by any obstacles.

- An accelerometer sensor measures the acceleration of any object in its rest frame. This kind of sensor has been used widely to capture the intensity of physical activities. We will use this sensor to detect if cats are playing with the mouse.

## Subsystem 2 - Microcontroller(ESP32)

- ESP32 is a dual-core microcontroller with integrated Wi-Fi and Bluetooth. This MCU has 520 KB of SRAM, 34 programmable GPIOs, 802.11 Wi-Fi, Bluetooth v4.2, and much more. This powerful microcontroller enables us to develop more powerful software and hardware and provides a lot of flexibility compared to ATMegaxxx.

Components(TBD):

- Product: [https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/espressif-systems/ESP32-WROOM-32/8544298](url)

- Datasheet: [http://esp32.net](url)

## Subsystem 3 - App

- We will develop an App that can remotely control the mouse.

1. Control the mouse to either move forward, backward, left, or right.

1. Turn on / off / flashing the LED eyes of the mouse

1. keep the cat owner informed about the battery level of the mouse

1. Change “modes”: (a). keep running randomly without stopping; (b). the cat activates the mouse; (c). runs in cycles(runs, stops, runs, stops…) intermittently (mouse hesitates to get cat’s curiosity up); (d). Turn OFF (completely)

## Subsystem 4 - Motors and Servo

- To enable maneuverability in all directions, we are planning to use 1 servo and 2 motors to drive the robotic mouse. The servo is used to control the direction of the mouse. Wheels will be directly mounted onto motors via hubs.

Components(TBD):

- Metal Gear Motors: [https://www.adafruit.com/product/3802](url)

- L9110H H-Bridge Motor Driver: [https://www.adafruit.com/product/4489](url)

## Subsystem 5 - Power Management

- We are planning to use a high capacity (5 Ah - 10 Ah), 3.7 volts lithium polymer battery to enable the long-last usage of the robotic mouse. Also, we are using the USB lithium polymer ion charging circuit to charge the battery.

Components(TBD):

- Lithium Polymer Ion Battery: [https://www.adafruit.com/product/5035](url)

- USB Lithium Polymer Ion Charger: [https://www.adafruit.com/product/259](url)

# Criterion for Success

1. Can go on tile, wood, AND carpet and alternate

1. Has a charge that lasts more than 10 min

1. Is maneuverable in all directions(not just forward and backward)

1. Can be controlled via remote (App)

1. Has a “cat-attractor”(feathers, string, ribbon, inner catnip, etc.) either attached to it or drags it behind (attractive appearance for cats)

1. Retains signal for at least 15 ft away

1. Eyes flash

1. Goes dormant when caught/touched by the cats (or when it bumps into something), reactivates (and changes direction) after a certain amount of time

1. all the “modes” worked as intended

Project Videos

Fun-E-Mouse